


It's Like Honey When It Washes Over Me

by Ciara2531



Series: Like Honey [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:23:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ciara2531/pseuds/Ciara2531
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A/U. Felicity (Merlyn) returns to Starling City after years spent at boarding school and Oliver is so, so screwed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of weeks ago I was taking prompts on Tumblr and I got one that featured an alternate universe where Felicity was a Meryln and returned to Starling after years away. Oliver takes one look at her and realizes he is in deep, deep trouble because his best friend's sister? Not a little girl anymore.
> 
> i decided to expand on that universe because there was something extremely appealing about this version of Olicity. It's going to be a short one, four parts but I hope you'll enjoy the ride!

“Hey, Nika,” Oliver greeted the Merlyn’s long time housekeeper. “Tommy up yet?”

 

Nika shook her head and gave a long suffering sigh that sounded a lot like the ones Raisa made when he got into to trouble.

 

“Young Mister Meryln is still sleeping,” she said. “I think he come home only a few hours ago.”

 

Which, Oliver realized in amusement, meant things must have gone exceptionally well with the hot Swedish girl Tommy had left the party with last night.

 

“Tell him to call me when he sobers up,” Oliver said.

 

Nika shook her head but then brightened.

 

“There is some one else you might like to see,” she said. “Miss Felicity is home from London.”

 

A fond smile spread over Oliver’s face. Tommy’s sister Felicity and his own sister Thea had been thick as thieves when they were little. They used to chase after Oliver and Tommy relentlessly and somehow instead of blowing them off, Oliver and Tommy had often found themselves going along with whatever scheme the girls – or Felicity really – had masterminded.

 

Then the adults finally paid attention to the fact that Felicity was a bona fide genius and they sent her off to some super special institute for the gifted in London. Despite the fact that he’d discovered cars and girls and alcohol and wouldn’t have had time for little girls’ games anymore, Oliver found that he actually missed Felicity’s presence in their lives.

 

It would be good to see her again.

 

“Where is she?” Oliver asked.

 

“Out by the pool,” Nika responded. “You go out and I bring lunch in a little while, yes?”

 

“Sounds good,” Oliver said.

 

He stepped onto the Meryln’s pool deck and glanced around. He saw no sign of Felicity but he did spy a long, lithe body cutting precisely through the water. Had Tommy let the Swede stick around?

 

Oliver wouldn’t have blamed him. She was all toned muscle and sleek flesh and when she came up for air, her body turned to the side enough that Oliver could make our the firm curve of her breast molded by the wet fabric of her bathing suit. The water must be chilly, Oliver thought, because he could clearly see the outline of her nipple as well.

 

He shook his head. He honestly didn’t remember Tommy’s conquest being this alluring last night. If he’d noticed, he might of given his best friend a little competition.

 

A squeal from the swimming pool broke into his thoughts and he realized that the woman had spotted him. She dashed out of the pool and started running towards him. Oliver took a wary step back.

 

“Oliver!” she exclaimed. “I was going to come see you today but I haven’t even seen Tommy yet and you know he’s going to throw a fit because you saw me first and damn, it’s good to see you. How’s Thea?”

 

“Felicity?” Oliver ventured, unable to process the dissonance between his body and his brain. His brain recognized the rambling as a distinctly Felicity like characteristic but his body and the extremely physical reaction it was having to the wet, skimpily clad girl – woman – in front of him was refusing to believe it.

 

He’d treated Felicity like a second sister. There was no way he could have been cataloguing her assets less than five minutes ago and in all honesty thinking of several, particularly x rated, things he’d like to do with those assets.

 

“Of course it’s me,” Felicity said. “Have I really been gone that long? Or have you spent so much time with nameless faceless women lately that we’re all starting to look the same to you?”

 

“No, I…” he trailed off.

 

He shook his head and let out a low whistle.

 

“You look amazing,” Oliver said.

 

Felicity flushed.

 

“You don’t look so awful either,” she said.

 

Their eyes locked and Oliver caught a glimpse of decidedly sexual admiration in Felicity’s eyes.

 

He swallowed hard.

 

His best friend’s little sister was _not_ a little girl anymore and he was so, so, screwed. 

 

 

Felicity forced herself not to look away from the intensity of Oliver’s bright blue eyes. She’d wanted this – for him to look at her like she was a desirable woman and _not_ a little girl – for too long to shy away now that it was happening. Or at least, she was pretty sure it was happening and then he masked it, giving her one of those _Oliver Queen_ smiles that he used on the masses.

 

Felicity pushed back her frustration and told herself to be patient. This time was different; she wasn’t going back to boarding school and she was taking a year off before pursuing her doctorate. She had plenty of time to get his attention and make him realize what had been under his nose all this time.

 

Although to be fair, they hadn’t really seen that much of each other the last few years. Felicity often came home for a week or two during the summer and sometimes Oliver was in Starling City and other times he wasn’t. The truth was, Malcolm Merlyn preferred to spend holidays and family vacations away from Starling City where the memories of his late wife were so much more prevalent and that meant Felicity hadn’t come home nearly as often as she would have liked.

 

It had gotten easier over the years but she still remembered those first few painful months away.  She’d been heartbroken to leave her best friend and her brother but even then, even though she was just seven, there had been something different about the way she missed Oliver.

 

It wasn’t that she’d been that much closer to him than to the others just that she had a special adoration for him. He was usually the one that talked Tommy into going along with her plans and he always seemed to make time for her, even if it was just to tease her or sneak her an extra piece of candy when Raisa or Nika weren’t looking. And once, when she’d fallen off her brand new bicycle and skinned both her knees, he’d held her hand tightly while Nika patched her up and told her how brave she was being despite the tears streaking down her face.

 

Oliver had been a bright spot in a life that had already been darkened with the loss of her mother and her father’s inability to handle his grief. He’d continued to be that even though they didn’t see each other often and never stayed in touch any other way. The closest they came to it was if Oliver was around when she spoke to Tommy on the phone. Then usually her brother would let her know that “Ollie says hi,” and she would imagine his face for a moment and feel like she was home again.

 

It wasn’t until she was 13 that she realized that she’d started developing feelings of an entirely different nature for Oliver. She’d come back to Starling for a week’s vacation. Oliver and Tommy, at nineteen, were already earning their reputations for parties, fast cars and faster women and one night, while Malcolm was away, they’d thrown a party in the basement of Merlyn Manor. Felicity and Thea, who was spending the night, had been on their way to raiding the kitchen when they’d stumbled onto Oliver about to get naked with a girl.

 

Never shy, Thea hadn’t hesitated to voice her disgust and complain about the permanent psychological damage she was sure to suffer. Felicity, on the other hand, had experienced her first pangs of heartache. She’d turned around and run upstairs, locking herself in the bathroom with the taps on so she could cry without anyone being the wiser. Of course the fact that she’d stayed in there for two hours and emerged with blood red eyes and misery pouring out of her pores, had tipped Thea off immediately.

 

The younger Queen hadn’t spoken to her brother for nearly three weeks after that and to this day, Felicity doubted that Oliver knew the real reason why.

 

“So,” Oliver asked clearing his throat. “How long are you here for this time?”

 

“A while actually,” Felicity said. “I’m taking a year off before I start looking at PhD programs.”

 

“I can’t believe Tommy didn’t tell me that,” Oliver said.

 

“Yeah…he doesn’t know,” Felicity said. “Neither does my dad if we’re being technical.”

 

Oliver’s eyes widened.

 

“I’m sure it’ll go over well,” he said, his tone suggesting the opposite would be true.

 

Felicity grinned.

 

“He’ll get over it,” she said. “Besides, I can code circles around his entire IT department and he’s not stupid. Hiring me part time will do Meryln Global more good than it will me.”

 

She gestured to one of the pool tables.

 

“Nika made iced tea. You want some?” she asked.

 

Oliver nodded.

 

Tea was good.

 

It might help to dispel the dryness in his mouth that seemed to get worse with every step that Felicity and her bikini-clad derriere took away from him. _This can’t be happening_ , Oliver thought to himself. It was wrong and twisted and if Tommy ever had these kinds of thoughts about Thea, Oliver would probably tackle him into the pool and try to drown him. And if Tommy did the same to him right about now, he would totally deserve it.

 

Felicity handed him a glass of ice tea and their fingers brushed. The shock of electricity was so intense that Oliver nearly dropped the glass. Instead he drained it in one gulp.

 

“More?” Felicity asked, amused.

 

“Got any gin?” Oliver asked.

 

“A bit early for alcohol isn’t it?” Felicity asked.

 

“You know what they say,” Oliver said. “It’s always five o’clock somewhere.”

 

Felicity made a skeptical sound just as Nika emerged with several platters.

 

“I make blinis,” Nika informed them, placing all the food on the table. “There is salmon, caviar and sour cream.”

 

Felicity licked her lips as she helped herself and Oliver felt his blood start to run hot and flashes of Felicity with her lips on his skin, on _him_ , burned behind his eyelids. He didn’t think he’d ever felt this helpless against his lust for a woman before. It was infuriating and too inconvenient for words, especially because it was _this_ woman.

 

_My. Best. Friend’s. Little. Sister._

 

Oliver forced himself to repeat it over and over in his mind until the thought took strong enough hold to combat his libido. In fact, that was probably the problem. He’d been busy lately and it had been nearly a week and a half since he last had sex. Clearly it was time to remedy that.

 

“So what have you been up to?” Felicity asked, when they were both settled with full plates. “Mastering the art of hedonism?”

 

“I’ve actually been slacking in my pursuit of pleasure,” Oliver said, immediately cursing himself for that particular choice of words. He pushed past it, thanks to the fact that he was genuinely excited to share his latest project with someone who wouldn’t assume he was crazy.

 

Beyond his unexpected reaction to her today, Felicity had always had knack for making him feel good about himself. There was just something in the way she looked at him that made him feel like he could do anything.

 

“Intriguing,” Felicity said. “What’s up?”

 

“I’m the majority stake holder in a new restaurant,” Oliver said. “It’s going to be called Scaramanzia. The other two co-owners are also the chefs.”

 

“Wow, Oliver,” Felicity said. “That’s really cool. When’s it open?”

 

“Not for a few more months,” Oliver said. “There’s still a lot we need to put in place.”

 

“Are the co-owners friends of yours and Tommy’s?” Felicity asked. “Do I know them?”

 

Oliver shook his head.

 

“I met them when they hijacked a staff lunch at QC,” he said. “They somehow managed get their menu in, as opposed to whatever my dad had organized. It was a live action business proposal, I guess. He didn’t go for it.”

 

“But you did,” Felicity said.

 

“Yeah,” Oliver said. “But my dad doesn’t know. I doubt he’ll be thrilled but whatever.”

 

“If you believe in this enough to invest your money in it, then I’m sure it will be amazing,” Felicity said.

 

She licked a dab of sour cream off her thumb and Oliver had to close his eyes against the image. This was out of control. Everything she did seemed to arouse him in some way and the only solution he could think of was to put distance between them. Out sight would hopefully be out of mind.

 

He was about to invent an excuse when Tommy made his entrance.

 

“Felicity Megan Merlyn!” Tommy shouted. “How could you not tell me you were coming home yesterday?!”

 

He glanced at Oliver.

 

“And consorting with that devil before your favorite brother gets so much as a hello?” he continued. “Totally unacceptable!”

 

“I missed you too big brother,” Felicity laughed, standing up and moving to give Tommy a hug. He held her at arm’s length though, blinking at her.

 

“When did you grow up?” he demanded. “And who says you’re allowed to wear bikinis?”

 

“Welcome to the year 2014,” Felicity teased. “A time and place where grown women can think for themselves.”

 

“You’re not grown,” Tommy argued. “You’re tiny still. Right, Ollie? Back me up here. She’s a midget.”

 

“I am not,” Felicity protested. “Besides, Oliver’s a giant. His opinion doesn’t count.”

 

“That’s a good point, actually,” Tommy allowed. “Anyway, whatever. You know what this means? We’re going out tonight. And I mean, all out.”

 

He wrapped an arm around his sister.

 

“You’re not old enough to drink legally,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t have a good time. Ollie and I can teach you some of our best tricks.”

 

“Seriously?” Oliver threw in. “You want to get your sister arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct on her first night back in town?”

 

“Yeah, you’re right,” Tommy said. “We’ll hold off on the tricks until tomorrow night.”

 

“You’re impossible,” Felicity said, elbowing him in the stomach.

 

Tommy spied the food on the table and lit up.

 

“How did you know Liss was back anyway?” he asked Oliver as he stacked his plate.

 

“I didn’t,” Oliver said. “I came looking for you and found her instead. I was as surprised as you are.”

 

“Does Dad know?” Tommy asked.

 

Felicity shrugged.

 

“I sent him an email before I got on the plane at Heathrow,” she said. “He hasn’t replied.”

 

“Figures,” Tommy said.

 

He rolled his eyes.

 

“Screw Dad,” he said. “I’m really glad you’re home. When do you go back?”

 

“I don’t,” Felicity said. “I’m taking a year off.”

 

Tommy let out a low whistle.

 

“You always were the brave one,” he said.

 

“You make Dad sound like a monster,” Felicity said. “I know he’s not especially warm and fuzzy but he’s still just a man.”

 

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed. “Same way an iceberg is just frozen water and a shark is just a big fish with sharp teeth.”

 

Felicity rolled her eyes.

 

“I’m going to go take a shower,” she said. “And then I want to go see Thea. So don’t leave without me, Oliver.”

 

If his eyes hadn’t been glued to her legs, he might have thought to tell her that he hadn’t been planning to head home. Or that he wasn’t even sure Thea had spent the night at home what with her and this new boyfriend, Roy, getting serious.

 

“I can’t believe that’s my little sister,” Tommy mused as Felicity disappeared into the house.

 

 _Makes two of us_ , Oliver thought.

 

“I’m going to need your help,” Tommy said.

 

“With what?” Oliver questioned.

 

“Keeping an eye on her,” Tommy said as if it should be obvious. “I don’t want anyone taking advantage of her, you know? So we need to protect her. You with me?”

 

“Always am,” Oliver said, because really, what else could he say?

 

“Good,” Tommy said. “Between the two of us, she’ll be safe.”

 

Oliver nodded.

 

All he had to do was keep his distance and remember that he’d treated Felicity like a sister for her entire life.

 

How hard could it be to keep doing it?

 

 

 

“I still can’t believe you’re here!” Thea said, throwing her arms around Felicity.

 

They’d been holed up in Thea’s bedroom for the last three hours catching up on each other’s lives.  They had so much to tell each other, but at the same time it was as if they’d never really been apart either. They just fell back into being _them_ and it was good, Felicity thought. It felt so good to have her best friend back.

 

Sure, she’d made a few friends in London but Havensworth was a competitive place and even surrounded by the freakishly gifted, Felicity was still a cut above the rest. It hadn’t exactly won her any popularity contests.

 

“It’s good to be home,” Felicity said.

 

“So what’s your plan?” Thea asked, reaching for a handful of the dark chocolate M&Ms from the bowl sitting between them on her bed.

 

“Plan for what?” Felicity asked.

 

“For seducing Oliver,” Thea said rolling her eyes. “Duh.”

 

“Why would I have a plan for that?” Felicity said.

 

“I don’t know,” Thea said. “Maybe because you’ve been in love with him for years? Not to mention that slammin’ hot body you’re rocking now. My brother can be dumb as a rock but his eyes do work. You can’t tell me he hasn’t checked you out.”

 

Felicity bit her lip and Thea cackled gleefully.

 

“This is going to be _so_ much fun,” she said. “What’s first?”

 

“Tommy did say he wanted us all to go out tonight…” Felicity said.

 

“Perfect,” Thea said, hopping off the bed. “Let’s go shopping. I won’t rest until we find _the_ outfit guaranteed to make Ollie beg for mercy.”

 

It took them four hours and over a dozen stores but they finally settled on a rose pink lace, one shoulder dress. The hem fell high up on her thigh and with the silver stilettoes they picked up at Saks, her legs would look like they went on for miles.

 

They had lunch and then hit the spa for mani pedis and leg and bikini waxes. By the time they got back to Queen Manor, Felicity’s sides hurt from laughing so much with her friend and she felt lighter and happier than she could remember being in ages.

 

It wasn’t until Tommy hollered from downstairs to find out what was taking them so long that Felicity started to feel nervous.

 

“Do you think it’s too much?” she worried, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror.

 

Thea had done her hair in an intricate layered chignon so that it was swept away from her face and accentuated her one bare shoulder. Her mouth was painted in a soft, glossy pink which contrasted with the dark pink and gray smoky eye make up she wore.

 

“I think that you’re about to rock Ollie’s world,” Thea said firmly. “You look hot. Stop doubting yourself and come on.”

 

Giving her friend a tremulous smile, Felicity slipped her small purse over her shoulder. They walked hand in hand down the hallway and the stairs. Tommy’s mouth fell open when he saw them but it was Oliver’s reaction that Felicity was looking out for.

 

He had his back to them when they first started walking down the stairs but she saw the second he glimpsed their approach. He turned around and froze. Felicity felt the look he gave her then all the way to the tips of her toes. His eyes had turned to a dark, stormy blue and there was heat, so much heat.

 

It made her mouth go dry.

 

“What—no,” Tommy protested. “You can’t go out like that. It’s…”

 

“Get a grip, Tommy,” Thea said, rolling her eyes. “We’re young and hot and allowed to look it. You’re just jealous. And old.”

 

“Your sister’s got too much mouth on her, you know that?” Tommy told Oliver.

 

Oliver gave him a sharp look and then realized that Tommy was talking about Thea’s sass. Unlike Oliver, his best friend wasn’t fighting a raging hard on for a girl he’d known since before she could walk.

 

“Let’s just go,” Oliver said gruffly.

 

“What’s your problem?” Thea asked.

 

Tommy threw his arm around Thea and fake whispered.

 

“I think he’s in withdrawal,” he said. “It’s been a while since he…you know.”

 

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“ _Gross_ ,” Thea protested, shoving Tommy away from her.

 

“That’s what you get for calling me old,” Tommy said.

 

Oliver ignored them.

 

“I’m driving,” he said.

 

“Shotgun,” Felicity called.

 

Oliver glanced over at her and even though she was blushing a little bit, she held his gaze. He was the one who looked away.

 

The drive to Bronze Brigade, one of Starling’s newest clubs wasn’t actually that long. Only about 35 minutes but for Oliver, it might as well have been 35 hours. With Felicity sitting right next to him in the low slung sports car, every time he so much as glanced sideways all he saw was the bare skin of her thighs. And all he could think about was what they’d look like and feel like if he was between them, what it would be like to have her legs locked around him as he rode her hard and fast and made her scream out his name like a prayer for salvation.

 

He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. He practically threw the keys at the valet when they got to the club and stalked to the bar as soon as they got inside. It took three shots of tequila bring him back down from the edge.

 

“You okay, man?” Tommy asked, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

 

“Demons are loud tonight,” Oliver said flatly, knowing it was an excuse his friend would buy.

 

Tommy nodded.

 

“Don’t let ‘em get to you,” he said. “Just have fun.”

 

He glanced over at where Felicity and Thea were dancing in the middle of the crowd.

 

“And keep an eye on those two,” Tommy said. “I’m going to go get us some champagne and a spot upstairs.”

 

“Yeah,” Oliver agreed.

 

It was torture, Oliver decided moments later.  Thea had always exceled at dance and Oliver didn’t remember Felicity ever showing any interest in it but somewhere along the way, she’d figured out how to move her body in ways that would make any hot blooded man take notice.

 

And apparently Oliver wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

 

His eyes narrowed as he saw a man approach the girls and bend his head to speak to Felicity. She shook her head no to whatever he said but then the man made the fatal mistake of touching her. Felicity pushed him off but Oliver saw red anyway. He was there in less than ten seconds, grabbing the man by the jacket and pushing him so hard that he fell back and knocked two other people over on his way down.

 

Oliver would have started throwing punches next if Felicity hadn’t taken hold of his arm and held him back. The commotion had attracted the attention of the bouncers and they were headed over.

 

“Get him out of here,” Thea told Felicity. “I’ll take care of this.”

 

“You sure?” Felicity asked.

 

Thea nodded and then put her dazzling Queen smile to use while Felicity led Oliver through the crowd to one of the middle levels and a secluded corner.

 

“Hey,” Felicity said, pressing her fingers lightly to his jaw. “Are you okay?”

 

Oliver huffed out a breath and started pacing the small space. Felicity could feel the agitation rolling off of him in waves but she wasn’t entirely sure what was causing it. Part of her wanted to think that he might have been jealous at seeing a guy hit on her but the rational part of her mind knew that he was likely just being protective of her and Thea.

 

He stopped pacing and stared at her.

 

He was close. Close enough that she could smell the spiciness of his cologne and see the shadow of stubble on his cheeks. Her fingers itched to touch him and the rest of her itched to have him touch her. Unlike earlier in the foyer of the Queen mansion, Oliver didn’t look away from her and Felicity let go of her apprehension.

 

She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his. She felt him freeze and after a few seconds of his unresponsiveness, Felicity felt the panic start to rise in her chest. Had she made a colossal mistake? Misread Oliver’s earlier reactions? What if this made their relationship awkward and she lost him as a friend?

 

She was about to pull back violently, a half sob already caught in her throat when Oliver gripped her hips, his fingers flexing as they dug into her, and kissed her.

 

Or more accurately, _devoured_ her.

 

It wasn’t the slow, sweet, first kiss she’d sometimes dreamed of sharing with him. It was rough, dark and intense. Oliver’s mouth was insistent as it moved over hers, his tongue claiming her, searching out every hidden crevice beyond her lips.  One of his hands slid up her side, brushing against the side of her breast and then curling behind her neck so he could tilt her head back and change the angle of the kiss, sink his tongue even deeper into her mouth.

 

Felicity stroked her tongue against his, somewhat shy and uncertain. She’d been kissed a few times before but never like this, never even close. She was acutely aware of the vast difference between them as far as sexual experience went but the growl that rumbled in his chest before he pinned her to the wall reassured her.

 

She might be inexperienced but he wanted her and that was what mattered. His hips pressed into her and Felicity instinctively widened her stance to accommodate him. The hardness suddenly cradled against her made her knees go weak and if Oliver hadn’t been holding her up, his both hands having slipped under the hem of her dress to cup and stroke her ass, she would have slid to the floor entirely boneless.

 

The pleasure coursing through her was so sweet and so addictive that the idea of stopping him never even occurred to her. She wanted more of what he was making her feel and when she felt his fingers pressing against the dampness between her legs she simply arched her hips into his touch.

 

“Please,” she mumbled, blinking her eyes open at the unexpected loss of his lips on hers. His face was still close and Felicity could feel his labored breathing, hot and heady on her face. She snuck her arms around his neck and tugged him back to her, capturing his bottom lip and sucking on it.

 

Oliver groaned low in his throat and his finger dipped its way past her panties and started to work its way inside her. He swallowed her screams with kisses, his thumb stroking over her clit in time with the shallow thrust of his finger.

 

She was the most potent thing he’d ever tasted, Oliver thought, aware that he was beyond reason and not sure he cared. She was wet and warm and he could feel her thighs trembling as he built her up to orgasm. Her head thrashed against the wall the closer she got to release and when her inner muscles clamped down on his finger, he thought _he_ was going to explode.

 

Her nails were digging into his neck, she was pressing into him, seeking even more friction and then she shattered. Tremors wracked her body and she clutched at him, moaning his name as her climax broke over her. He kissed her and stroked her through it, until the aftershocks started to fade and she melted into him.

 

She blinked her eyes open and smiled at him, a smile so full of trust and…love, that Oliver suddenly felt a little sick to his stomach. What the hell had he just done?

 

Felicity _trusted_ him.

 

Tommy trusted him with her and what had he done?

 

He’d fingered her in a dark corner of a random club like he was a sex starved animal and she was just some girl.

 

But she wasn’t.

 

Felicity was special.

 

She was a virgin for Christ sake.

 

After making sure she was steady on her feet, he took a step back and ran his hand over his face. The smell of her arousal, of her orgasm, on his hand nearly brought him to his knees. He had to resist the urge to suck his finger clean and savor the taste of her.

 

“I—that,” he began. “That was…it shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m not,” Felicity said. “I wanted you. I _want_ you. And you wanted me, too. Sorry if I don’t see a problem here.”

 

Apparently, Felicity thought, mind blowing orgasms made her brave.

 

“There isn’t _a_ problem,” Oliver replied. “There are _several_ problems. Like the fact that your brother is my best friend and he’d slit my throat if he knew what had just happened here.”

 

“So don’t tell him,” Felicity said. “I certainly don’t plan to.”

 

“I lost control,” Oliver said tightly. “Anyone could have seen us.”

 

“I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve gotten kinky in almost public,” Felicity said, keeping her voice light even if she hated the thought of Oliver with women that weren’t her.

 

“Do _not_ do that,” Oliver hissed furiously at her. “Do not compare yourself to that kind of girl. You’re not some slut that I randomly picked up who wants to fuck me for my name or my money.”

 

Felicity knew he was being vulgar on purpose, probably trying to shock sense into her, but she wasn’t fazed.

 

“No, I’m not,” she agreed. “I want to fuck you _and_ make love with you and your name and bank balance has nothing to do with any of it. It’s because you’re you and Oliver, I---”

 

“There you two are!” Tommy exclaimed. “Been looking all over. Thea convinced the bouncers that she laid that guy out herself. It was pretty genius.”

 

“I bet,” Oliver said, making sure there was a respectable distance between him and Felicity. “You got champagne? Hand it over.”

 

He grabbed the bottle from Tommy and took a healthy swig. He had every intention of getting mind numbingly drunk in the hopes that he could forget everything; forget the way Felicity tasted and the sounds she made when she came, forget the way his heart lurched when she talked about making love with him and forget the fact that he’d bet his trust fund that she’d been about to tell him that she loved him.

 

If he could just forget all of it, maybe he wouldn’t want it so fucking badly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who reviewed. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
> 
> As you can imagine with the way things ended in the last chapter, I had one hell of a battle on my hands, trying to get these two to keep their hands off each other. In fact, I failed. Spectacularly. This chapter is mostly smut so you're forewarned.
> 
> Also something I should mention, the majority of this story is told from Oliver's point of view. I think it's probably because the original prompt focused on his reaction to Felicity being all grown up. Whatever the reason, he just sort of decided that he should do most of the talking and well, the characters run this show. I'm just the messenger.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Enough is enough, Ollie,” Thea said, barging into his room.

 

“Not now, Thea,” Oliver said, continuing to do pull ups on the bar he’d set up in the corner of his room.

 

“Yes, now,” Thea insisted. “I’ve had it up to here with you. I’m not about to stand by and do nothing while you break my best friend’s heart. Again.”

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oliver said darkly, dropping to his feet.

 

“I know that Felicity, for reasons I have yet to wrap my head around, cares about you,” Thea said. “A lot. I also know that you care about her.”

 

“Of course I care,” Oliver snapped. “Felicity is…”

 

“Do not say like a sister to you,” Thea warned him. “Because I _saw_ the way you looked at her the other night and if you looked at me like that, they’d throw you in jail.”

 

She fixed him with a fierce stare.

 

“Despite the fact that Felicity refuses to give me any details, I know something happened between the two of you when we went out last weekend,” Thea said. “And whatever it is has you freaking out because you know good and well that if you let it, what’s between you might turn into something real.”

 

She pointed her finger at him.

 

“You need to man up, Oliver,” Thea told him. “Figure things out with Felicity before she comes to her senses and decides to give up on you. I mean it.”

 

With a final, scathing glare in his direction, she stormed back out of his room, the door slamming behind her. Oliver let out a frustrated roar and just barely resisted the urge to throw something. He’d barely slept this week; every time he closed his eyes images from his encounter with Felicity flooded his brain (not that they didn’t when he was awake) and the dreams would turn to nightmares featuring Tommy, betrayed and furious when he found out.

 

Oliver was terrified of losing that friendship; he and Tommy weren’t just best friends. They were brothers, constants in each other’s lives. There wasn’t anyone who knew him better than Tommy Merlyn.

 

The problem was that Thea was right. He was freaking out and not just because his attraction to Felicity was a threat to one of the most important relationships that he had but because he was old enough and experienced enough to know that the intensity of the connection he’d felt with her wasn’t the norm.

 

Nothing driven purely by hormones and the need to scratch an itch could have that profound an impact. Which meant that feelings were involved, not just on her side. Oliver had been wracking his brain all week, trying to understand how he could have misread his own emotions so thoroughly.

 

He’d always had a soft spot for her. He couldn’t deny that. He’d always been amused and charmed by her intelligence and her inability not to say what she thought. But what he was feeling now was completely beyond that, almost as if he’d been repressing it all this time and simply waiting for the timing to be right.

 

“Fuck my life,” Oliver muttered.

 

He reached for his cell phone and after a brief hesitation, he texted Felicity, asking if they could talk.

 

She didn’t respond but his phone rang.

 

“Hey,” he said.

 

“What’s there to talk about, Oliver?” Felicity said. “You spent the last week acting as if I don’t exist. I can take a hint.”

 

She was trying to be flippant but Oliver sensed the underlying pain in her voice and he felt a layer of self -loathing settle over him.

 

“Felicity, I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I know I’m…I’m not handling this well but it’s as overwhelming for me as it is for you, okay? Maybe more. I don’t know.”

 

“What _do_ you know?” Felicity asked him.

 

“That I don’t want to leave things like this between us,” he said. “Let me pick you up and we’ll find some place to talk.”

 

There was silence on the line and Oliver was starting to feel like it might be too late to fix it when Felicity sighed.

 

“I’m at Northstar,” she said, naming her and Thea’s favorite sidewalk café.

 

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Oliver said.

 

“Fine,” she said.

 

Oliver disconnected the call, took an extremely quick shower and was out the door in under ten minutes. He spotted Felicity as soon as he pulled up in front of the café. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing a red dress with white polka dots and red flats.

 

She climbed into the car but didn’t say anything.

 

Oliver didn’t either.

 

Instead he focused on driving. He’d given considerable thought to the best place for them to go and finally settled on the apartment he’d just leased opposite the location they’d selected for Scaramanzia. It was a crash pad for him if he had to work late and Sara and Shado were living there until their apartment upstairs in the restaurant was finished.

 

He’d texted ahead to make sure they weren’t home and asked them to make themselves scarce. The drive took ten minutes and Oliver drove the car downstairs into the building’s parking garage.

 

“What is this place?” Felicity asked, breaking the silence.

 

“It’s across the street from the restaurant,” Oliver said. “My partners are living in it until their place is finished and there’s an extra room I crash in sometimes.”

 

He met her gaze before they climbed out of the car.

 

“I wanted to make sure we’d have privacy,” Oliver said.

 

Felicity didn’t respond and Oliver found himself grappling with a solid knot of nerves lodged deep in his chest.

 

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.

 

“I’m thinking that you brought me here because you feel guilty,” Felicity said.

 

“You’re wrong,” Oliver said as they got off the elevator and he led the way down the hall to the front door of the apartment. He opened it and gestured for her to go in first.

 

“You don’t feel guilty?” Felicity pressed, hardly taking in the spacious apartment but instead focusing on him.

 

“It’s not that simple,” Oliver said.

 

“Right,” Felicity agreed bitterly.

 

“It shouldn’t have happened the way it did,” Oliver said. “You deserved better than that.”

 

“I wasn’t exactly complaining,” Felicity pointed out.

 

“That’s not an excuse,” Oliver said.

 

He took a breath.

 

“I do feel guilty,” he said. “I feel guilty because I don’t regret what happened, not really. You were right that night.”

 

“I was?” Felicity questioned.

 

“I wanted you every bit as much as you wanted me,” Oliver admitted.

 

Felicity’s eyes widened; she clearly hadn’t been expecting that confession.

 

“And I get that it might be that simple for you,” Oliver said. “That both of us wanting this is enough to make it okay but it’s not that easy for me.”

 

He sat down on the couch and braced his elbows on his knees.

 

“Your brother is my best friend in the world,” Oliver said. “And whether you want to admit it or not, if we act on this thing between us – really act on it – then it’s a betrayal of his trust.”

 

Felicity opened her mouth to protest but Oliver didn’t give her the chance.

 

“Tommy expects me to take as good care of you as he would,” Oliver said. “The same way that I expect him to look out for Thea if she needs it and I’m not there. Crossing that line isn’t easy for me, Felicity.”

 

Felicity sank to her knees in front of him and linked both her hands with both of his.

 

“You won’t lose him,” she said.

 

“How do you figure?” Oliver retorted.

 

“Because he loves you,” Felicity said. “And he loves me. And if we’re…happy, then he will be too.”

 

“You’re being optimistic,” Oliver said. “To say the least.”

 

Felicity lifted her chin in a stubborn tilt.

 

“Then I guess the question is whether or not you think it’s worth the risk,” she said.

 

She was all brave innocence and unblemished beauty and in that moment, Oliver couldn’t imagine walking away from her or the feelings that seemed to sink deeper into his soul every time he looked at her.

 

“It’s going to have to be,” Oliver said,

 

And then he kissed her.

 

 

She hadn’t been exaggerating.

 

The thought swam somewhere in the back of Felicity’s mind as she gave herself over to Oliver’s kisses. The feel of his mouth against hers was every bit as intoxicating and delicious as she remembered. She’d been replaying that night in the club on a loop in her mind, alternating between giddiness at how good it had all felt and heartbreak over how little it seemed to mean to him, how much he seemed to regret it.

 

Almost as if he knew and wanted to make it up to her, Oliver’s kisses turned softer and sweeter. He coaxed her to open for him and gently slid his tongue inside when she did. Bracing her hands against his shoulders, she nudged him backwards so she could kick off her shoes, crawl into his lap and straddle his hips. The hem of her dress rode up and when Oliver put his hands on her thighs to hold her to him, he found himself caressing bare skin.

 

Before he’d really stopped to think about it, he was standing up and carrying her into the extra bedroom that he’d claimed for himself. He lowered her onto the bed and settled himself on top of her, his weight pressing her down into the mattress. Felicity moaned and wrapped her legs around him. It felt every bit as good as Oliver had imagined and that was with several layers of clothes still between them. He could only imagine what the feel of her bare skin against his would be like.

 

Hungry and impatient to learn the taste of her body, Oliver started to lick and nibble a trail down the slender column of her throat. Felicity tilted her head to the side to give him better access and then her fingers sank into his hair, keeping him close.

 

Her skin was so creamy and perfect and Oliver had an insane urge to leave a mark, to claim her as _his_. The sharp sting of that visceral possessiveness was like a bucket of cold water. Oliver pulled back immediately, letting out a harsh breath, as he pushed himself off the bed and got to his feet. He stood tense, at the foot of the bed but he couldn’t take his eyes off of her

 

The left strap of her dress, hung loosely off her shoulder, where he’d pushed it out of the way and her lips were swollen and her lipstick was smeared.

 

“Oliver?” Felicity questioned, pushing herself up on her elbows.

 

“We should stop,” Oliver said. “Otherwise I think things are going to go much further than either of us is ready for.”

 

“Speak for yourself,” Felicity said, closing the distance between them and linking her arms around his neck.

 

She could see his jaw lock as he tried to keep his hands off her. If it wasn’t such an important moment in her life and her relationship with him, she might have laughed.

 

“I want to make love with you,” she told him honestly. “I want you to show me what you like and help me figure out what I like.”

 

Oliver muttered a curse under his breath.

 

“It’s your first time,” Oliver said tightly. “It should be the best memory you can make it.”

 

“Was yours?” Felicity countered.

 

“No,” Oliver said. “Which is exactly my point.”

 

“I just want it to be with you,” Felicity said. “That is all that matters to me and I’ve waited 19 years. Are you really going to make me wait longer?”

 

Oliver’s mind was spinning and he wasn’t sure he knew which way was up and what was right from what was wrong. He’d made the decision to do this, to be with her, because not being with her wasn’t something he could accept. Was there really any point in trying to slow things down now?

 

Apparently, tired of waiting for him to make up his mind, Felicity slipped her other strap off her shoulder and pushed her dress down to her hips. Her bra was red and white to match her dress and while it had clearly been designed for functionality rather than seduction, it enflamed Oliver beyond belief. His mouth watered at the sight and he unconsciously swiped his tongue over his bottom lip.

 

Felicity tracked the movement with her eyes, her own darkening in response. She pushed her dress further down her hips, revealing red French cut panties. She hooked her fingers into the elastic band and was about to pull them down when Oliver stopped her.

 

“Let me,” he said huskily, spanning her tiny waist with his hands, his thumbs running back and forth over her hipbones.

 

He reached around her to unfasten the hooks of her bra so that he could peel it off and fill his hands with the soft weight of her breasts. He squeezed and molded them, his eyes glued to her pert, pink, nipples as they hardened against his fingertips. Felicity swayed toward him, her eyes fluttering shut and her lips parted.

 

“You wanted to learn what you like,” Oliver murmured. “Do you like this?”

 

She nodded her head, eyes still shut.

 

“How about this?” he asked, bending his head to circle one nipple with the tip of his tongue while rolling the other between his thumb and forefinger.

 

“ _Oh_ ,” Felicity breathed.

 

The sensations that spread through her body as he switched from one breast to the other were unlike anything Felicity had imagined. The abrasion of his stubble against her sensitive skin hurt just enough to feel good and the craving that had started in low in her stomach deepened until it threatened to overtake her completely with every new caress he bestowed upon her.

 

When he guided her to lie back on the bed, Felicity went willingly. She arched into him when he shifted his attention from her breasts to the flat plane of her stomach, his lips dropping kisses in random patterns, causing her stomach to rise and fall in time with her strangled breathing. He hovered over her belly button and then applied himself to sucking a mark right underneath of it.

 

“Oliver!” Felicity cried out.

 

The way her fingers tightened on his shoulder and in his hair let him know that he wasn’t hurting her. Grasping the elastic of her underwear in his teeth, he started to peel the material down her legs. He got distracted before he even reached her knees. The second his eyes landed on the glistening folds between her legs, he was lost.

 

His tongue was out of his mouth and pushing its way into her before he even knew he going to do it.

 

“Oh my god,” Felicity choked out, her body writhing under his ministrations. He draped her legs over his shoulders, giving him a different angle to work with. His tongue thrust in and out of her, mimicking what was to come and he smoothed his palms back up her stomach to cover her breasts and tease her nipples.

 

Felicity’s hands fell away from him and clutched the comforter instead, her body captive and suspended by the bliss bombarding her. And then suddenly, as if she was as light as a feather, Oliver flipped her onto her stomach and she felt the heat of his body as he braced himself over her. He pushed her hair to one side and started placing kisses along the back of her neck.

  
She shivered.

 

Putting all his weight on one forearm, he slipped his other hand between her legs again, seeking, finding and stroking her clit.

 

“Did you like when I kissed you here?” Oliver rasped in her ear.

 

Felicity managed a jerky nod even as she buried her face in a pillow to muffle her moans.

 

“Don’t do that,” Oliver said. “Don’t hide from me. I wanna to hear how good I make you feel.”

 

Felicity turned her head to the side and he slipped two fingers inside her, testing how wet she was and pulling another sharp cry from her throat.

 

Oliver closed his eyes briefly. She was molten silk around his fingers and just the thought of burying himself inside her made him so hard, he wouldn’t have been surprised if his pants had ripped apart. Struggling to take in a deep breath, Oliver freed his fingers and straightened up to yank his shirt off over his head.

 

Felicity blinked at him over her shoulder and then rolled all the way over and up onto her elbows when she realized he was taking his clothes off. She watched his every movement and Oliver felt an absurd pride in the obvious appreciation she had for his body.

 

Finally free of his clothes, he took a deep breath. This wasn’t his first time by any stretch of the imagination and yet he was more nervous now than he had been when it was. Thoughts about being careful not to hurt her and making sure not to disappoint her and keeping his head long enough to accomplish both of those things, chased themselves around his head.

 

And then in one simple gesture, Felicity undid him completely.

 

She bit her lip and slowly let her legs fall open. It was all the invitation that Oliver needed. He was on her in a flash but there was no more hurry after that. He claimed her lips in a kiss so slow and delicate that Felicity thought her heart was going to burst from it.

 

_This is happening_ , she thought to herself.

 

She’d dreamt about it of course, losing her virginity to the man she loved, to Oliver. But she hadn’t truly considered it possible only now it was and it was _everything._

She groaned her protest when Oliver pulled away from her but was grateful when he returned moments later with a condom in one hand. He extracted it from the package and then took hold of her hand and guided it down to his erection.

 

Felicity’s mouth fell open in a small o as she instinctively squeezed, wrapping her fingers around his cock as best she could. Oliver hissed at the feel of her small hand on him. He’d thought he was braced for it but she’d barely touched him and he was already hanging onto his control by a thread. He helped her roll the latex over his shaft but when she would continued exploring the different ways she could bring him pleasure, he stopped her.

 

There would be time enough for those lessons later and that realization in and of itself, the fact that there was so much for them to discover together, weakened his tenuous control even further. Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her tight against him and seized her mouth in another kiss, this one more wanton than all the ones that had come before.

 

This time when he laid her back, he kept her legs wound around his hips so that she was open to him. Taking in a breath to shore up his control, he reached down to run the head of cock through her folds, once, twice and again. Instinctively, she squirmed closer, wanting more and Oliver obliged her. Carefully, he started to ease his way into her body, pausing when he came up against the barrier that had yet to be broken.

 

“If it hurts too much, if you want me to stop,” Oliver began.

 

Felicity shook her head.

 

“I’m ready,” she panted.

 

Oliver pressed a fierce kiss to her mouth and then lifted his head so that he could look at her, watch her expression as he thrust forward and seated himself all the way in. Felicity gasped loudly and Oliver knew enough to know that it was fueled by pain and not pleasure.

 

He showered her face and neck and shoulder with kisses all the while making sure he stayed as still as possible and gave her time to adjust to the feeling of being filled this way.

 

“Breathe,” he told her. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

 

A few tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and Oliver chased them away with his tongue. Lifting his head, he looked down at her.

 

“You’re perfect,” he told her. “You feel perfect. Just try to relax.”

 

Pushing out an unsteady breath, Felicity tried to follow his advice and slowly but surely she felt the tension start to ease out of her limbs, leaving her with the sensation of being impossibly full and at the same time wanting something else, something more.

 

She focused on Oliver and saw that his face was twisted with the effort of restraint.  Felicity felt herself fall even more in love with him, if that was even possible. Not a lot of people would suspect Oliver was capable of being this sweet and tender and Felicity was fiercely glad that she hadn’t settled for less than this moment.

 

She shifted her hips experimentally and heard Oliver hiss so naturally she did it again.

 

“ _Felicity_ ,” Oliver growled.

 

“’Feels good again,” Felicity said.

 

Oliver groaned and withdrew slowly only to glide home again seconds later. There were no words to describe how it felt to be connected to her like this. Oliver could only close his eyes and try hard to absorb the intensity of it without losing his mind.

 

He picked up the pace of his movements a little bit, careful to watch for any sign of pain or discomfort from Felicity. There were none. She fell into his rhythm easily and the expressions chasing themselves across her face were equal parts rapture and wonder. It was sexy as hell and Oliver knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

 

Reaching between them he sought out the swollen nub of flesh at the apex of her thighs and let his fingers work their magic. Felicity clutched at his biceps, her fingers scratching his skin as the tension in her body culminated in an explosion so powerful that it stole the breath from her body and rendered her screams silent.

 

Oliver gave a hoarse shout and convulsed on top of her, violent tremors taking hold of him as he came, Felicity clamping and clenching around him still caught in the grips of her own climax. Long moments later, when they’d wrung every drop of bliss from their bodies that they could, Oliver took a moment to rest against her, savor the rapid beating of her heart under his ear before he reluctantly pulled out of her, rolled over onto his back and then off the bed.

 

“Hey,” Felicity protested.

 

Oliver smiled at her.

 

“I’ll be right back,” he told her.

 

He walked into the bathroom, discarded the condom and then returned with a warm washcloth.

 

“It’ll help with the soreness,” he explained, climbing back onto the bed with her.

 

Felicity looped her arms around his neck and tugged his mouth down to hers for a light, lazy kiss, even as he ran the heated cloth between her legs and over the inside of her thighs. When they broke apart, Felicity scanned his face, searching for signs of doubt or regret. She didn’t find any and it wasn’t until she felt herself relax that she realized how scared she’d been that he would have second thoughts after the fact.

 

She ran the back of her hand over his cheek and jaw.

 

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

 

“For what?” Oliver asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

 

“For the best memory,” Felicity said.

 

Oliver didn’t say anything but Felicity saw his expression soften, his eyes full of emotions that he wasn’t quite ready to put into words, and that was enough for her.

 

 

 

“Dude, where have you been?” Tommy asked. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours.”

 

Oliver paused in the doorway and blinked. The last thing he’d expected to find when he got home was his best friend pacing like a caged tiger.

 

“My phone was off,” Oliver explained, keeping his voice even. “What’s going on?”

 

“I can’t find Felicity,” Tommy said.

 

“What do you mean, you can’t find her?” Oliver asked.

 

“What I said,” Tommy said impatiently. “She said she was going to Northstar to do some research so as you could expect, I went looking for her a few hours later with plenty of plans to distract her. Only she wasn’t there.”

 

“There are other coffee shops,” Oliver pointed out. “Maybe she relocated or went shopping or…whatever.”

 

“She’s not answering her phone,” Tommy said. “And the waitress recognized the photo I showed her. She said she saw Felicity get into a car with some guy.”

 

Oliver froze.

 

“Did she get a look at him?” he asked, his heart speeding up.

 

“No,” Tommy complained. “And she couldn’t tell me anything about the car except to say that it was black and sporty looking.”

 

Oliver closed his eyes briefly and hoped that Tommy was too busy freaking out to notice his relief.

 

“Maybe she met up with friends,” Oliver said.

 

“She’s not with Thea,” Tommy said. “I checked.”

 

“She does have friends other than Thea,” Oliver said.

 

“Guy friends?” Tommy asked skeptically.

 

Oliver shrugged.

 

“Felicity’s a big girl,” he said. “And an extremely smart girl.”

 

“Smart girls do stupid things sometimes,” Tommy said. “How else do you think the two of us get laid so often?”

 

“Cute,” Oliver said. “All I’m saying is you should trust her judgment.”

 

“Like you would trust Thea’s if the situation was reversed?” Tommy countered.

 

“Thea’s in a relationship,” Oliver said. “And Roy might be rough around the edges but he treats Thea like a goddess so yeah, I’d say she picked a good one.”

 

He narrowed his eyes.

 

“If you tell her I said that, I _will_ kill you,” he said.

 

Tommy grinned, momentarily distracted from his concern for his sister.

 

“I will promise to keep your secret _if_ you come out with me tonight,” he said. “It’s been way too long since it was just us on the prowl.”

“Not tonight, buddy,” Oliver said. “I have some things to take care of for the restaurant.”

 

Tommy rolled his eyes.

 

“Man, you know I think it’s ballsy as hell what you’re doing, with the restaurant and everything,” he said. “But all work and no play, makes Oliver a cranky, horny mess. And _that_ cramps my style.”

 

“I’m good,” Oliver promised.

 

He knew the type of night his friend was looking for and not 72 hours ago, he would have agreed without a moment of hesitation. But 72 hours ago, he hadn’t spent the afternoon making love to Felicity, didn’t have the first clue of how wrecked it would leave him physically _and_ emotionally. He couldn’t imagine going out and so much as flirting with another woman because all he could see was the hurt on Felicity’s face if she ever found about it.

 

_I am so royally screwed_ , Oliver acknowledged to himself. He had never been a relationship type of guy; the closest he’d come was a disastrous attempt a few months ago with Sara’s sister Laurel. It had been fun at first, when they were dating casually; Oliver spent most of his time with her but he still saw other people. Or more to the point, he still slept with other people.

 

And then Laurel confessed that she wanted them to be exclusive. Oliver had agreed partly to appease her and partly because he was a little curious to see what it would be like with only one woman in his life and in his bed.

 

He’d made it six days before he cheated on her the first time.

 

Another 17 before she found out about the first time and a few, but by no means all, of the other times.

 

She’d cried, he’d apologized, Sara had punched him and that was the end of it.

 

Oliver knew that it would be nothing like that with Felicity. He just wasn’t sure what it _would_ be like and that should have terrified him.

 

It didn’t.

 

The only thought he had was to try exceptionally hard not to do anything to hurt her because he didn’t think he’d be able to forgive himself if he caused her any more pain than he already had.

 

“Are you having an early mid life crisis?” Tommy asked him. “Because they make pills for that.”

 

“Get out of here,” Oliver said, rolling his eyes at his friend.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tommy said. “If you hear from Felicity, let me know.”

 

“Sure,” Oliver agreed easily.

 

Tommy patted him on the shoulder as he left and Oliver let out a deep breath when the door shut. He’d dropped Felicity off at her house before coming home so he knew she’d be there when Tommy got there.

 

Pulling out his cell phone, he started to text her but changed his mind and called her instead.

 

“Missing me already?” she teased when she picked up.

 

_Yes_ , Oliver realized.

 

“Tommy was waiting when I got home,” he said instead. “Freaking out because he didn’t know where you were.”

 

“What’d you say?” Felicity asked.

 

“I didn’t say anything,” Oliver said. “Just told him that you were probably hanging out with friends. Lucky for us, the waitress who saw you get in my car has crap vision and a crappier memory.”

 

Felicity absorbed that.

 

“I’ll handle Tommy,” Felicity said. “Let’s talk about something else.”

 

“Like what?” Oliver asked.

 

“Like when we can see each other again,” Felicity said. “Alone.”

 

Oliver bit back a groan.

 

“Felicity,” he said quietly. “We have to be careful.”

 

“Being careful doesn’t mean not seeing each other,” Felicity said.

 

She paused.

 

“It’s not about sneaking away to have sex,” she said. “Well, not _just_ about that. I want to spend time with you. I _like_ spending time with you.”

 

“I like it too,” Oliver said. “Tell you what. Meet me at the dock tomorrow morning. We can take Queen’s Folly out on the water.”

 

“What time?” Felicity asked.

 

“Six too early for you?” Oliver asked.

 

“Six is perfect,” Felicity said.

 

“What are you going to tell Tommy?”

 

“Thea will cover for me,” Felicity said.

 

“You told her?” Oliver asked.

 

“No,” Felicity said. “But this is _Thea_. She’s going to take one look at me and just know so…yeah. Might as well make it work for us. And you know she won’t tell Tommy.”

 

Oliver sighed.

 

The web of lies was spinning faster than he wanted it to. He hated making Felicity lie to her brother, and he didn’t love the idea of Thea keeping his secrets either. But neither of those things was stronger than his fear of how damaged his relationship with Tommy would be by the truth. It was cowardly and he knew that but he needed more time. He needed to be able to put his feelings for Felicity into words because the only thing that might mitigate Tommy’s reaction would be to know how much Felicity meant to him and how serious he was about having a relationship with her.

 

“Okay,” Oliver agreed.

 

“I think Tommy just got home,” Felicity said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

“Call me if you need me,” Oliver said.

 

“I will,” Felicity said.

 

She hung up the phone and tossed it into her purse. She’d been in the process of making herself a sandwich when Oliver had called. She plucked two slices of toast from the toaster oven and waited for her brother to find his way to her.

 

“Wanna tell me where you’ve been all afternoon?” Tommy asked, resting his hip against the counter.

 

Felicity arched an eyebrow at him.

 

“I wasn’t aware you needed to know my every move,” Felicity said lightly.

 

She gestured to the cold cuts, cheese and fresh veggies in front of her.

 

“Want me to make you a sandwich?” she asked him.

 

“Sure,” Tommy said. “And I don’t need to know your every move but when you say you’re going to be somewhere and then I can’t find you there and people tell me they saw you getting into a car with some guy…”

 

“So here’s the thing,” Felicity said, pushing a plate towards him and making the second sandwich for herself. “I don’t ask about your relationships.”

 

“Because I don’t have any,” Tommy pointed out.

 

“Fine, I don’t ask about your sexcapades,” Felicity said. “I respect the fact that you have a personal life that’s none of my business. It would be nice if you could do the same for me.”

 

Tommy blinked.

 

“You’re having sexcapades?” he asked.

 

Felicity punched him in the arm.

 

“You’re missing the point,” she said. “There’s a guy but I’m not ready to talk about it; with you or anyone. So I need you to leave it – and me – alone until that changes.”

 

“Who is he?” Tommy asked. “How do you know he’s not a stalker or a serial killer or?”

 

“I ran a background check,” Felicity said. “An extremely thorough one.”

 

Tommy’s lips twitched.

 

“You would,” he said.

 

He sighed.

 

“You’re my baby sister,” he said. “And I know that I’m not the most responsible person in the world 99 percent of the time but I worry about you. Even if it makes me a bit of a hypocrite.”

 

Felicity smiled.

 

“You worry because you love me,” she said. “I know that and I love you too. All I’m asking for is a little trust.”

 

“Okay,” Tommy said. “I’ll do my best. But if this guy steps so much as a fingernail our of line, you tell me and Ollie and I will beat the hell out of him.”

 

“That seems fair,” Felicity agreed.

 

Tommy smiled and picked up his sandwich.

 

“Can I ask one more question?” he asked.

 

“You can ask,” Felicity said.

 

“This guy,” Tommy said. “You really like him?”

 

“I really do,” Felicity said.

 

“That’s a relief,” Tommy said.

 

“What do you mean?” Felicity frowned.

 

Tommy gave her a look.

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he said. “It’s just, I know you’ve had a crush on Ollie for the longest while and I always sort of wondered if that was getting in the way of you being with someone else. I’m glad to know it isn’t because even if he wanted to be – which obviously he doesn’t because that would be fucked up as hell – Ollie is _so_ not the kind of guy you need in your life.”

 

Felicity managed to force a smile onto her face even though her heart broke a little bit at the realization that Oliver was probably right and she was underestimating how badly Tommy would react when he found out about the two of them.

 

“Lucky for us,” she lied. “It’s not a problem.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the great response to this story. I know a couple people commented that they were surprised by how much this A/U appealed to them and I gotta say, I felt the same way about it myself when I first responded to the prompt. Something about Olicity in this universe is just kind of fun. Although I warn you, angst is up ahead...
> 
> Also, I am not fluent in Russian (wish I was) so if it's all hopelessly off base, blame Google Translate.

“Permission to come aboard?” Felicity asked teasingly.

 

Oliver smiled.

 

“Permission granted,” he said, holding his hand out to help her on board the yacht that his parents had given him on his 21st birthday.

 

Once she was on board, his grip on her hand relaxed and their fingers intertwined instead. Felicity tilted her face up towards his and Oliver didn’t hesitate to drop a kiss on her mouth. Her lips were soft and she was eager, enticing Oliver with the genuineness of her response.

 

Pulling away to suck air into his lungs, Oliver let his forehead fall against hers.

 

“Let’s get this beauty out on the water,” he murmured.

 

Felicity was as experienced a sailor as he was – it was the nature of their wealthy upbringing even on opposite sides of the world – so it didn’t take them long to pull away from the dock and make their way to a cove about half an hour up the coast.  Oliver kept one hand on the wheel as they cut through the water and the other held both of Felicity’s where they rested low across his stomach. She had her arms wrapped around him and her cheek pressed between his shoulder blades. How something so simple could bring him so much emotional satisfaction, Oliver truly had no idea. All he knew was that being close to Felicity soothed something in him that he hadn’t even realized needed soothing.

 

Once they were anchored, Oliver tugged Felicity into his arms and leaned into her as he bent his head to claim her lips. His hands slipped under the hem of her tank top and he relished the silky feel of her skin.

 

“Mmmm,” Felicity moaned into his mouth, her arms winding around his neck. She pulled back and pressed kisses along his jaw and down his throat. Oliver closed his eyes and lifted his hands to loosely hold her head. He felt her tongue flatten against the base of his throat and he groaned.

 

She smiled against his skin and her hands settled on either side of his waist. She tilted her head back and Oliver found himself drowning, not for the first or last time, in her eyes; in the warmth and tenderness that he found there.

 

“You slay me,” he confessed quietly.

 

“Is that bad?” Felicity asked.

 

“No,” Oliver said.

 

It might even be the best thing that had ever happened to him, Oliver thought. Felicity made him want to be the best version of himself but the weight of her expectations, if you could call them that, didn’t feel like a burden.

 

He kissed her again, hard and fast, and then he led her toward the back deck.

 

“I brought breakfast,” he told her.

 

“Good,” Felicity said. “I’m starved.”

 

They settled down to a feast of blueberries, raspberries, sharp cheddar cheese, fresh rolls, banana nut bread and thin slices of prosciutto cotto.

 

“Tell me about London,” Oliver said.

 

Felicity gave a small shrug.

 

“It’s a cool city,” she said. “I didn’t really get to explore it until my last year there.”

 

“How come?” Oliver asked, polishing off his second piece of banana nut bread.

 

“Havensworth was a pretty isolated set up,” Felicity said. “You have to be an upperclassman before they let you come and go, more or less as you please. And even then with the accelerated curriculum, it’s not like you have that much free time.”

 

“You don’t sound like you enjoyed it,” Oliver observed. “Havensworth.”

 

“I got the education my father wanted me to have,” Felicity said. “And the degrees that come with it but not much more than that.”

 

“I find it hard to believe that you didn’t make any friends in the decade and change you were over there,” Oliver said.

 

“It was a competitive place,” Felicity said. “And geniuses don’t play particularly well with other geniuses. Not that we can only be friends with stupid people. That’s not what I…”

 

Oliver chuckled.

 

“I just mean that when you’re the smartest one in a room filled with people who are used to being the smartest one in the room,” she said. “It makes it hard to bond.”

 

Oliver sobered.

 

“I’m sorry that you had such a hard time,” he said. “I wish I’d known. I’d have...”

 

“What?” Felicity teased gently. “Stood up to my father and forced him to let me come home?”

 

“I might have,” Oliver said.

 

Felicity shook her head.

 

“You wouldn’t have,” she said gently.

 

There was no accusation or recrimination in her voice, just recognition of the fact that with the life he’d been living at the time, it wouldn’t have occurred to him to come to her rescue so to speak. Pushing away the discomfort of that particular line of thought, Oliver changed the subject slightly.

 

“Speaking of your father,” he said. “He probably won’t be any more thrilled about us than Tommy.”

 

“I don’t need his permission,” Felicity pointed out. “Or Tommy’s. I’m an adult, capable of making adult decisions and that includes deciding who I want to share my life – and my body – with.”

 

She swung her legs into his lap and placed his hand high on her thigh for emphasis. Oliver swallowed hard, his fingers automatically tightening their grip, her flesh warm and firm to the touch.

 

“You said you wanted to work for Meryln Global,” Oliver said. “Pissing off your father isn’t the easiest way to make that happen. And what if he threatens to cut you off?”

 

“Let him,” Felicity said, reaching out to cup Oliver’s jaw and turn his face up to hers. “I’m well past the point of needing anything from my father. Merlyn Global isn’t the only company in Starling. If I need to find a job and pay my own rent, then I’ll do it.”

 

“I’d help, you know,” Oliver told her. “Anything you need, you just have to ask.”

 

Felicity smiled.

 

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said. “Not like that.”

 

“Then how?” Oliver asked, his eyes focused intently on her lips.

 

“Just be with me,” Felicity said. “Support me in the choices I make, be honest with me if you think I’m screwing up and let me do those things for you too.”

 

“No one has ever asked things like that of me before,” Oliver said.

 

“Maybe they didn’t think you’d be willing,” Felicity said. “Or maybe they did and you just weren’t ready to hear it.”

 

“How are you so sure then?” Oliver asked, locking eyes with her because this was about way more than sexual chemistry now. “What makes you think I’m even capable of…this? Of being the man you seem to think I am despite boat loads of evidence to the contrary.”

 

“I remember the boy that wore purple feathers and pink glitter to make me smile,” Felicity said. “Or who held my hand and told me to brave when I fell off my bike and I know that despite the great pains you take to keep that side of yourself hidden, it’s still part of who you are. Mostly though, I know that if you didn’t want this, if you didn’t want to try…then we wouldn’t be here.”

 

“Wanting something doesn’t make it right,” Oliver said. “And trying doesn’t mean you succeed.”

 

“It doesn’t make it wrong or mean you’ll fail, either,” Felicity said. “It just means you take a chance and see what happens.”

 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned forward until her lips hovered just over his.

 

“There is one other thing I want,” Felicity whispered.

 

“What’s that?” Oliver murmured.

 

“I want to get naked with you again,” Felicity said.

 

She’d relived yesterday afternoon in her mind countless times, her body remembering everything about the ways he’d touched her and how it had felt and the craving for more was a constant ache that she was tired of fighting.

 

She didn’t wait for Oliver to answer. Instead she settled hers lips against his and relished how perfectly they seemed to fit together. The sweetness of it lasted for the few milliseconds it took to ignite the spark of lust between them and burn in the inevitable explosion of passion. Hungry, biting kisses and impatient hands sucked them into a world that was all fire and sensation and need.

 

Tightening his hold on her, Oliver stood up and managed to get them below deck, as far as the short flight of steps. Felicity found herself pressed face first into the wooden paneled wall, Oliver’s arms reaching around her to unsnap her cutoff shorts and peel them down her legs. Hands braced on her hips, he knelt to place a kiss at the base of her spine and then took his time nibbling and biting the ripe curve of her ass, soothing the repeated stings with his tongue until she kicked off her shorts and he got to his feet in time for her to turn around and jump on him, her hands braced on his shoulders and her legs locked around his waist. One hand locked around her lower back and the other holding firmly to her thigh, Oliver carried her into the stateroom and set her on her feet. He reached for the hem of her tank top, intent on pulling it off of her but she batted his hands away and reached for the edges of his shirt instead.

 

“Me first,” she said.

 

She hadn’t gotten to explore his body nearly as much as she’d wanted to yesterday and she intended to remedy that now. She pushed the material of his shirt up until their height difference meant that Oliver had to take care of discarding it himself. It fell soundlessly to the floor and Felicity focused her attention on learning the play of skin and muscle across all of Oliver’s upper body; his arms, his chest, sides, abs, his back. She rubbed, stroked and scratched, memorizing every hiss and groan that her touch elicited.

 

And then her hands settled low on his stomach and she could feel his body tense in anticipation of her next move. She could see and feel his arousal where it tented the khaki cargo pants he had on but for some reason she stilled. Sensing her uncertainty, Oliver titled her chin up and smiled.

 

“There isn’t anything to be nervous about,” he said. “You can touch me however you want.”

 

Capturing her tongue between her teeth, Felicity slowly unbuckled his belt. She freed the button from its hole and then with only a split second more of hesitation, lowered his zipper. Oliver took the next step, stripping out of his pants and briefs to stand entirely naked before her, giving her all the time she needed to decide what she wanted to happen next and be comfortable with it.

 

Her hand hovered over his cock and it strained toward her. He saw a smile curve the edge of her lips and then she was touching him, her fingers curling around his shaft, squeezing gently, experimentally. Oliver sucked in a harsh breath and covered her hand with his, urging her to stroke him, showing her how she could bring him to his knees.

 

He bit his tongue so hard to keep some semblance of control that he tasted blood. He’d been priding himself on his stamina for years but all that restraint was practically non-existent when Felicity was involved. He knew it was probably because it had only ever been a question of choreography with his previous lovers and that with Felicity the physical feelings were magnified by the emotional ones. He still wasn’t sure he could put those feelings into words but he was getting closer.

 

It was the way her smile made his heart skip beats and how when she laughed, her eyes lit up and made him feel like he was stepping into direct sunlight for the first time in years. In what felt like the blink of an eye but had probably been a lifetime in the making, Felicity had become one of the most precious people in the world to him. She may not need him to take care of her but he wanted to. He wanted to care for her in ways that he couldn’t even wrap his mind around. He just knew that this was it; that he’d found something people could go their whole lives looking for and never finding.

 

Her fingers digging into his hips brought Oliver back to the moment and when she would have fallen to her knees and taken him into her mouth, Oliver scooped her off her feet and sat down on the edge of the bed. It was a simple thing to sit her down in his lap, her knees on either side of him.

 

He reached up to free her hair from its topknot and the sleek strands cascaded down her back and around her shoulders. The tank top and the bikini top she had on went next and Oliver couldn’t resist pulling one nipple into his mouth.

 

Felicity clasped his head in both hands and leaned her head back.

 

“You should be on top,” Oliver muttered against her skin, switching his attention to the other breast.

 

Felicity made an approving sound low in the back of her throat and lifted herself a little bit away from him. Oliver pushed her bikini bottoms out of the way with every intention of guiding himself inside her when he realized he wasn’t wearing a condom.

 

Cursing under his breath, he lifted Felicity off of him and fished a foil packet from his pants pocket. He held it up for her to see and saw understanding light her eyes. She took advantage to shed the rest of her bathing suit and by the time she climbed back into his lap, he had the protection in place and there was nothing stopping her from sinking slowly onto him.

 

Oliver saw her eyes round a bit as she took him all the way in, this position giving her something entirely new to experience. He cradled her hips in his hands but didn’t rush her to move. His thumbs stroked softly back and forth across her waist and he pressed his mouth to her collarbone.

 

After a moment, she started to rock against him, gasps and variations of _oh my god, Oliver_ escaping her in time with her body’s frenzied movements. He’d never felt anything like it, Oliver thought distantly. Being inside Felicity was like discovering an entirely new world and he never wanted to leave it.

 

Felicity wound her arms tight around Oliver’s neck and hid her face in the slope of his shoulder as she ground against him faster and harder and lost all sense of reason in the flood of pleasure that seemed to be drowning every sensory receptor she possessed. Oliver was right there with her, focused solely on the cycle of desire and gratification that they were both in the grips of.

 

She was close to climax. Oliver could feel the tremors working their way up her body and the scrape of her teeth against his neck was his final warning before she burst apart in a spectacular orgasm that had her clenching around him so tightly, he could do nothing but give himself over to his own release. His roar of satisfaction mingled with her screams of ecstasy and echoed in the air.

 

Felicity collapsed against him and tiny little purrs escaped her as she gradually came down from that explosive high. Oliver held on to her, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. His mind was basically numb from the intensity of what they’d just shared but he had one thought, clear as crystal, in his mind. He wanted this, with her, for as long as he could have it.

 

Even if – _especially if_ – that meant forever.

 

 

In the end, they had six weeks.

 

Six weeks of sneaking phone calls and texts, of slipping away to his crash pad when Shado and Sara weren’t there or more often that not to the Queen’s Folly. Six weeks of movie nights and popcorn fights, of long conversations about everything and nothing, of learning all the things about each other that a lifetime in each other’s orbit had never revealed.

 

Six weeks of giving into the white-hot attraction between them that seemed to increase in intensity the more they indulged it. Six weeks for Oliver to understand, for the first time in his life, the difference between sex and making love.

 

Six weeks for him to fall deeply, fundamentally, irrevocably in love.

 

Six weeks of them being happier than either of them had known was possible until it all went to shit.

 

He honestly hadn’t seen it coming although he should have. Tommy had been pressuring him to get out more, hit the club scene again and Oliver knew he was running out of excuses so he came up with a plan, explained everything to Felicity, and agreed to a night on the town with her brother.

 

He soon found that the things that had come so naturally to him before required more effort. He had to work hard to hide his total lack of interest in any of the women that approached him. He flirted enough to make a few of them think they had a chance, all the while feeling kind of sick to his stomach. He knew all this was to keep the secret, protect his relationship with Tommy but for the first time, he questioned whether or not it was worth it.

 

Forty minutes after they arrived, Oliver managed to detach from his friend and slip out of the club. He was half way across town before he texted Tommy to give him the impression that he’d headed out with some random girl, knowing that Tommy wouldn’t think anything of it.

 

And then he’d called Felicity and let himself be talked into going over to her house. After all, Tommy was out and probably wouldn’t be back until the early hours of the morning and her father was still somewhere outside of Starling City.

 

Just seeing her and holding her had made Oliver feel better. They’d settled into her bed with a pint of mint chip. They’d planned to watch Game of Thrones but things had gotten sexy and messy and they’d ended up in the shower being silly and playful even as they blew each other’s minds.

 

It was only hours later, when Oliver pulled into his own driveway and saw Tommy’s car parked in front of him that he wondered.

 

It was only when he walked through the door and was greeted by Tommy’s right hook that he knew.

 

“You sick, twisted, son of a bitch,” Tommy growled at him. “Felicity is my _sister_. What the fuck made you think that there is a world in which you touching her is okay?”

 

Oliver shoved Tommy away from him and met his gaze steadily.

 

“We love each other,” he said flatly.

 

Tommy swung at him again but Oliver dodged the blow.

 

“I know you’re mad,” Oliver began. “But just listen to what…”

 

“No chance in hell,” Tommy bit out. “I’m not listening to a word you say.”

 

“Tommy,” Oliver tried again.

 

Tommy ignored him.

 

“You and Felicity?” he said.  “It’s not happening. And you and me? We are done. You stay the hell away from Felicity and you stay the hell away from me or so help me, Oliver, I will kill you.”

 

Tommy gave his former best friend a death glare, not affected in the least by the pained expression on Oliver’s face. He was too busy feeling his own hurt and betrayal even as he stalked out and slammed the door behind him.

 

He climbed into his car and burned rubber down the Queen’s driveway, his thoughts still in a tailspin. When he’d gotten Oliver’s text earlier that night, he hadn’t been upset that his friend at ditched him. If anything, he’d been congratulating himself on forcing Oliver to get back into the game and have some fun. He’d been in such a good mood about it that he’d decided that instead of partying solo, he’d go home and keep his sister company since, despite her being home for over a month, they had yet to have one of their Lord of the Rings marathons.

 

He’d come in the front door, which was probably why he hadn’t seen Oliver’s car and made his way upstairs. When he’d cracked open the door to Felicity’s bedroom, he’d been surprised to hear the unmistakable sounds of sex coming from her bathroom. Weirdly, he’d actually been a little proud, thinking it was past time Felicity started to enjoy life.

 

And then his world had collapsed on itself. He’d heard her cry out Oliver’s name at the same time as he spied the jacket that Oliver had been wearing hours ago, sprawled across the foot of Felicity’s bed. Despite his mind’s desperate attempt to convince him that it wasn’t possible; that whoever the man in shower was, he couldn’t possibly be the man Tommy had trusted his entire life, he knew with gut deep certainty that it was.

 

The shock and betrayal had him stumbling backwards down the hall and down to the living room. His mind had been spinning so violently that he hadn’t known what to do next. He’d gone back and forth between deciding to storm upstairs and confront them both to just leaving and not coming back.

 

He’d settled on driving to Queen manor and stewing in his anger and bitterness until Oliver came home. He’d wanted to settle this with Oliver first because whereas he knew Felicity had probably been caught up in her stupid crush, he’d expected Oliver to know better, not to take advantage.

 

Even now, he couldn’t quite believe that this night had happened, that Oliver had been willing to sacrifice a lifelong friendship and for what? To bask in a little hero worship? Pulling over to the side of the road, Tommy stumbled out of the car and threw up until he didn’t think there was anything left in his stomach. He managed to get back into the car but he just sat there.

 

He sat there for hours, praying for his mind to just go blank and for the turmoil in his gut to stop. By the time he made his way home, it after sunrise and he was drained in every way possible. It was a total contrast to Felicity, who was dancing around the kitchen, her ipod tucked into the back pocket of her shorts.

 

She was pulling the orange juice from the refrigerator when she saw him. She started to smile but Tommy figured he looked as bad as he felt which would explain her frown. Pulling her earphones out, she gave him a concerned once over.

 

“Are you okay?” she asked.

 

“You and Oliver,” Tommy said flatly. “It’s over.”

 

“Tommy, I don’t...” she began.

 

“Do _not_ lie to me,” Tommy roared. “I _heard_ the two of you. I _saw_ Oliver’s jacket – the same jacket he was wearing hours before when he was out with me – on the foot of _your_ bed. So don’t take me for any more of a fool than you already have.”

 

Felicity didn’t flinch.

 

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that,” she said quietly.

 

Tommy stared at her in disbelief.

 

“You’re _sorry_?” he repeated. “And let me get this straight, only that I found out about it but not that you’ve been letting a man that I considered to be my brother, screw around with you for shits and giggles?”

 

“Oliver and I are not _screwing around_ ,” Felicity said, in her extremely loud voice. “We’re in a relationship. One that we would been open about if not for the fact that Oliver predicted, accurately so, it seems, that you were going to be a complete _jackass_ about it.”

 

“Wake up, Felicity,” Tommy snapped. “Oliver and relationships mix as well as oil and vinegar. He is completely incapable of being monogamous. Just look at that disaster with Laurel.”

 

“Laurel?” Felicity repeated.

 

“Fucking fantastic,” Tommy spat. “He didn’t tell you? Figures. Well let me enlighten you. Laurel Lance is sister to Sara Lance, one of Oliver’s new business partners. They dated for a few months and by dated I mean he was regularly sleeping with at least four other women that I know of, not counting one night stands, while they were together. And then, when Laurel decided it was time for them to be exclusive, Oliver survived six measly days before he cheated on her. Is that _really_ the kind of man you want to be with?”

 

“Oliver’s your best friend,” Felicity said, shaking her head.

 

“He used to be,” Tommy corrected her. “And you know what, that doesn’t even matter because friends or not, when it comes to women, Oliver _is not a good guy_. He’s going to break your heart and so help me, Felicity, I’ll have told you so.”

 

“He’s not the one breaking my heart,” Felicity said. “You are.”

 

She blinked back tears.

 

“You know, I told Oliver that if we were happy, you’d be happy for us,” she said. “I actually believed it. I thought that if nothing else, you’d care enough about me to make peace with it.”

 

“I do care about you,” Tommy said. “That’s the exact reason I can never be okay with this.”

 

“Then I guess we don’t have anything left to say to each other,” Felicity said.

 

She grabbed her car keys from the counter and abandoned her breakfast. In minutes, she was on the road and driving straight to Oliver’s.

 

Raisa opened the door and she smiled on seeing Felicity.

 

“Dobroye utro, Raisa,” Felicity said. “Oliver ne spish' yeshche?”

 

“Dumayu, chto da . Pozvol'te mne proverit' dlya vas,” Raisa replied.

 

“Net neobkhodimosti,” Oliver interjected from the middle of the staircase.

 

He cocked his head to one side and gave Felicity a look.

 

“Since when are you fluent in Russian?” he asked her, surprised that it hadn’t come up before.

 

“Classic literature module,” Felicity said distractedly, walking towards him. “We studied in Greek, Latin, Russian and French. Did Tommy do this to you?”

 

She reached up to touch the angry bruise that had formed on his jaw and Oliver winced, pulling away slightly.

 

“I should have called you after he left,” Oliver said. “But you were sleeping and I actually on my way out to look for him. I was hoping I could talk sense into him before you saw him and at the very least I wanted to tell you in person and _fuck_. I think your rambling is contagious.”

 

Felicity tried to fight the smile but the giggles did her in.

 

“I’m sorry, is this funny?” Oliver asked.

 

“Not really,” Felicity allowed. “God, not at all. I know this is exactly what you were afraid of but…”

 

“Yes?” Oliver asked, expectantly.

 

“Part of me is relieved,” Felicity admitted. “He knows and how he chooses to deal with it or not is his problem. I don’t want it to be ours. I know that’s unrealistic because you guys have been friends for longer than I’ve been alive and you didn’t want to lose that…”

 

“I don’t want to lose _you_ ,” Oliver interrupted. “You’re right that Tommy and I have been best friends for as long as either of us can remember. And I have to believe that means something, that he’ll find a way to wrap his head around it eventually because…I can’t imagine my life with you, without us.”

 

“I can’t imagine that either,” Felicity said.

 

Oliver wrapped his arms around and Felicity cuddled into him for a few moments before pulling back.

 

“He told me about Laurel,” she ventured.

 

Oliver froze and the slowly disentangled himself from her although he took her hand and led the way to his bedroom.

 

“I really wish he hadn’t done that,” Oliver finally said.

 

“Is that because you wanted to tell me yourself or because you just didn’t want me to know?” Felicity questioned.

 

“It wasn’t exactly my finest hour,” Oliver said. “You can’t blame me for not wanting to broadcast it.”

 

He tugged on her hand to pull her close again.

 

“You have to know that you and I are completely different to things with Laurel,” Oliver said. “I would never do that to you.”

 

He searched her eyes with his.

 

“You believe that, right?” he asked.

 

Felicity nodded.

 

She could see the earnestness on his face and hear the sincerity in his voice. It was impossible _not_ to believe him. At least, in that moment, it was. A few weeks later though, caught between what she saw and the doubts Tommy had planted and a lifetime of her own insecurities, she wasn’t as certain as she should have been.

 

And it nearly cost her everything.

 

 

 

Oliver swung open the door of the apartment, ready to greet Felicity with a kiss and a glass of her new favorite wine; a Malbec he’d introduced her to when they had dinner at an Argentinean steakhouse two weeks ago.

 

He pulled up short though because the woman on his doorstep was not his girlfriend. She was one of the few females that Oliver could honestly say he completely regretted talking to let alone sleeping with.

 

“What the hell are you doing here, Helena?” Oliver asked. “How the hell did you even know where to find me?”

 

“We have friends in common,” Helena said. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

 

“No, I’m not,” Oliver said, wrapping an hand around her arm to prevent her forcing her way inside. “And you need to leave, _now_.”

 

“Why?” Helena purred. “You expecting someone else?”

 

Oliver narrowed his eyes, not sure why he felt like something else was going on but certain that it was. He hadn’t seen Helena in months and the only way she could have found him was if someone told her where he was. He knew his family and none of the Queen staff would have shared that information and the only other person who even knew about his hook up with Helena was…

 

Tommy.

 

The realization slammed into him and everything that followed felt like it was happening in slow motion. He heard the ding of the elevator and saw Felicity step out of it, even as he felt Helena’s lips against his the side of his neck and her hand grabbing his shirt.

 

He saw Felicity freeze, her mind processing the scene and he saw the surprise, the doubts and the _hurt_ take over her face. He pushed Helena away _hard_ not caring if she slammed her head into the wall and he raced for the elevator. He didn’t make it in time to stop the steel doors closing but he glimpsed the tears pooling in Felicity’s eyes and he couldn’t breathe.

 

He sprinted down the steps and caught up to her just when she would have left the building.

 

“Felicity, that wasn’t _at all_ whatever you’re thinking,” he said. “Helena is an ex, if you could even call her that, and she randomly turned up here.  Probably because your brother put her up to it.”

 

“Seriously?” Felicity choked out. “Tommy? You expect me to believe that my brother, as mad as he might be, would actually stoop to sabotaging our relationship? By sending your ex…whatever to your apartment even though he had no way of knowing I’d be here? Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

 

“No crazier than thinking I’d actually invite her over here minutes before I had plans with you,” Oliver said. “No crazier than you believing, even for a minute, that I would cheat on you. You _know_ that I would never.”

 

“Do I?” Felicity countered.

 

Those two words hit Oliver with all the weight of a two-ton truck. He could feel the blood draining out of his face, making him light headed. The fact that after everything that had happened between them, she could still doubt his feelings, his commitment to her, that she could doubt _him_ , was devastation like Oliver had never felt before.

 

He had to try twice before he could get words out.

 

“If you don’t trust me to be faithful to you,” Oliver rasped. “And if you don’t trust me to be honest with you then we have _nothing_.”

 

Their eyes locked; tears were spilling down her cheeks and Oliver felt like crying himself.

 

“Felicity,” he implored softly.

 

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed.

 

She was out the door before he fully understood what had happened, his legs giving out once he did. He sat on the floor of the lobby, staring but not seeing and would have stayed there for who knew how long had Sara not spotted him.

 

“Oliver, are you alright?”

 

Blinking, Oliver ran the backs of his hands over his eyes, only vaguely aware that they were coming away wet.

 

“Did something happen with your family?” Sara pressed. “Do you need me to call someone?”

 

“No,” Oliver said. “I just…”

 

He shook his head.

 

“Lock up on your way back out,” he said.

 

He walked unsteadily onto the sidewalk and spotted his bike. He’d parked it street side when he came back from the grocery store with thoughts of taking Felicity for a spin after dinner. The key was still in his pocket and before he thought it all the way through he was tearing through the streets of Starling to the Merlyn house.

 

Nika answered the door and informed him sternly that Felicity wasn’t there. Oliver recognized it for the lie it was but he didn’t argue.

 

“I want to see Tommy,” he said instead.

 

“I have nothing to say to you,” Tommy said, appearing in the doorway.

 

“I don’t know how you knew that Felicity and I had plans tonight,” Oliver said thickly. “I don’t know why our relationship was such a problem for you that you felt the need to actively try and destroy it.”

 

He locked his jaw in an effort to keep his emotions from completely over taking him.

 

“What I know is that you broke your sister’s heart,” Oliver said, “managed to cost me the only woman I’ve ever been in love with _and_ make it so that I legitimately no longer give a shit that we aren’t friends anymore. Congratulations, Tommy. You win. You. Fucking. Win.”

 

Oliver turned away after that, his hands shaking as he climbed back onto his bike. He wasn’t sure where he was going or that he cared whether or not he actually got there. When he found himself at the docks, staring at the Queen’s Folly, he only hesitated for a brief second.

 

It was dark.

 

The forecast he’d heard earlier that evening was predicting storms rolling in off the coast.

 

Going out on the water was probably a bad idea.

 

Just like thinking that his past wouldn’t catch up with him.

 

Just like thinking that the future he pictured with Felicity was possible.

 

Just like hoping that he could ever be more than his reputation.

 

It was a bad idea and he did it anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thank you all for taking this ride with me. Based on your comments it seems that y'all have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
> 
> I always intended for this to be a short story so this is the last chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Felicity was no stranger to pain.

 

There had been the pain of her mother’s death; a loss she still mourned every day, probably all the more because it had cost her a father as well. Felicity had understood very early after that tragedy that Malcolm Meryln would never again be the warm, affectionate father that she remembered in her earliest memories. He was cold and distant, not by nature, but because losing the love of his life had ruined him, had stripped him of the ability to accept the vulnerability required to love anything but himself.

 

It had been a painful adjustment but Felicity had made it. She’d stopped dreaming, stopped hoping, and stopped caring really, what her father thought. Tommy had filled a little bit of the gap on the occasions that he was focused fully on her and not the latest party or the latest girl. For a few fleeting moments she’d bask in his genuine pride in her accomplishments, whatever they happened to be at the time. It helped, but the loss was still there and it still hurt whenever her mind happened to drift toward it.

 

So, no, she wasn’t a stranger to pain. She wasn’t even a stranger to pain caused by Oliver Queen. She’d seen him with all kinds of women over the years and a little piece of her heart had broken every time. Two months ago, after that night in the club, when he hadn’t spoken to her for almost a week, she’d been heartsick, struggling to wrap her mind around what she might have lost.

 

None of those things, none of that familiarity with what it meant to feel _hurt_ , was helping her now. She wasn’t just hurting. She was destroyed, and lucid enough now, after the fact, to know that it wasn’t only Oliver’s fault. It was her own fault too.

 

She shouldn't have doubted him. Deep down, she knew she shouldn't have, because whatever his other flaws, Oliver had never broken a promise to her. He hadn't made that many of them to be fair, but he'd kept all the ones he had. And that was before anything happened between them; before the morning he woke her up with a cappuccino that had interlacing hearts swirled into the foam, before the afternoon they snuck into a foreign language film festival downtown and laughed and kissed their way through every movie they saw, before all the nights spent cuddling on the deck of the Queen's Folly.

 

But the six weeks that Oliver had had to build her faith in his feelings for her didn't stack up well against nineteen years of insecurities; fears of being abandoned, fears of not being good enough, irrational fears born from the literal and metaphorical loss of her parents but still fears. Tommy's reaction hadn't helped matters and the seeds he'd planted in her mind about Oliver's womanizing ways had impacted her gut reaction when she'd seen him with that woman clinging all over him.

 

The truth was that Helena, whoever she was, was hardly the issue. The issue was what Oliver had said to her. _If you don't trust me to be faithful to you and if you don't trust me to be honest, we have_ nothing _._

 

Felicity was terrified that he was right. There was no doubt that she loved him. And before tonight, she would have sworn that she trusted him completely. But that trust was being tested and Felicity was realizing, painfully, that she wasn't sure she did. She wanted to obviously, but that tiny voice in the back of her mind, questioning whether or not Oliver would ever get bored of her, doubting whether in five months or a year or five years, he would still want this relationship with her, was refusing to be silenced.

 

And even if she found a way to conquer all her fears, there was the damage she'd done last night. She'd seen the look on Oliver's face when she'd tossed those two words at him. _Do I?_ She’d broken something between them and there was no guarantee that he would let her fix it.

 

The thought made the lump in her throat impossible to swallow past and tears trickled out of her sore, swollen eyes, already bruised by lack of sleep and the amount of crying she’d done. The sound of her cell phone ringing almost didn’t register.

 

She fumbled for it, not sure whether she wanted it to be Oliver or she didn’t. Squinting, she recognized Thea’s face flashing on the screen. She hesitated before answering, not sure she felt up to sharing the details of what had gone wrong between her and Oliver but then she decided that if anyone could help her work through her feelings and help her fix it, it would be Thea.

 

“’llo?” Felicity croaked.

 

“Felicity?! Oh thank god. Are you okay? Is Oliver with you?” Thea babbled. “Tell me he’s with you!”

 

Felicity pushed herself upright.

 

“What? No,” she rasped. “Oliver’s not here. We…we had a fight last night and…”

 

“Oh god,” Thea repeated.

 

“Thea, you’re scaring me,” Felicity said. “What’s going on?”

 

“The Queen’s Folly is gone,” Thea said. “Ollie’s bike was at the dock so they’re pretty sure he took her out but he’s not responding to radio and the storms last night were bad so they keep trying to find him but they _can’t_. He’s not answering his cell phone. No one else has seen him. I was hoping he was with you but he’s not. He’s missing, Felicity. My brother is missing.”

 

“No,” Felicity denied. “ _No!”_

She wasn’t aware that she’d started screaming the word over and over again. She was scarcely aware of Nika rushing into her room, face full of concern, thinking something horrible had happened.

 

Something horrible _had_ happened and Felicity was paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of it. _Oliver was missing._ The thought no sooner settled in her mind than Felicity was fighting to reject it. She couldn’t lose him, not him.

 

“Have to find him,” Felicity mumbled.

 

Yes, she thought, she could find him. She’d could use her computers and hack systems and _find him_. She pushed Nika away and stumbled towards her computer. Before she shoved it open though, she realized she didn’t want to be here. She needed to be closer to Oliver, surrounded by his things and his smell and his family, by the people who loved him as much as she did.

 

She was half way down the hall, oblivious to Nika calling out that she was in no fit state to drive, when she ran into her brother. He caught her, his hands on her shoulders.

 

“What’s the rush?” Tommy asked.

 

“Oliver,” Felicity said. “Have to find him.”

 

“Liss, whatever went wrong with you and Oliver last night is for the best, don’t you think?” Tommy said.

 

That quickly, the thick fog that had encased Felicity’s mind from the minute Thea had brought her up to speed, cleared.

 

She slapped Tommy _hard_ and he never saw it coming.

 

“Oliver is missing,” she choked out furiously. “He took Queen’s Folly out in the middle of the storm and now they can’t…they don’t know where he is. They can’t find the boat. They can’t make contact.”

 

She shook her head, blinking away the umpteenth set of tears.

 

“The last time I saw him I said something terrible to him and if he…if I don’t get to take that back…” she trailed off.

 

She glared at Tommy.

 

“Don’t you _ever_ say that losing him is what’s best for me,” she spat. “Don’t you _dare.”_

She pushed past him, not stopping to gauge his reaction. Her hands were shaking but she miraculously managed to drive the short distance to the Queen mansion without getting into an accident.

 

Raisa opened the door, her eyes rimmed with red, and she let out a small cry when she saw Felicity, pulling her into a tight hug and murmuring to her to have faith. In what, Felicity wasn't sure but she accepted the comfort gratefully. Her eyes met Thea's over Raisa's shoulder and Felicity untangled herself to race towards her best friend. They collapsed into each other and Felicity wasn't sure which of them was trying to reassure the other.

 

"Is there news?" Felicity forced herself to ask, even though she knew, based on the heavy atmosphere in the house, that even if there was news, it wasn't good.

 

"Nothing yet," Thea said. "I think I heard my dad say they were going to send out the Coast Guard."

 

She gripped Felicity's arm a little tighter.

 

"I'm glad you got here before the press finds out," she said. "You know it's going to be a nightmare."

 

Felicity let out a strangled breath. She hadn't even considered that but now that Thea brought it up, she knew it was going to be a media circus. Oliver Queen, son of billionaire Robert Queen, couldn't just disappear without the world wanting to know every detail. 

 

Forcing herself to suck air into her lungs, Felicity glanced into the living room. Oliver's parents had their arms wrapped around each other and they were listening to a man in some kind of uniform.

 

"Do you think I could..." Felicity said quietly, looking up the stairs, knowing Thea would understand.

 

"Yeah, of course," Thea said. "Do you want me to come with?"

 

Felicity nodded and the two girls made their way, arms linked, up the stairs and to Oliver's bedroom. Felicity bit her lip when they crossed the threshold and she clutched Thea even tighter. It was so easy to picture Oliver strolling in, as if nothing was wrong, all bright smile and shining eyes.

 

"Thea, what if..." Felicity started.

 

"No," Thea said fiercely. 'No what if's, okay. We're not...Ollie's coming home. He's going to come home and everything is going to be fine and perfect because...because..."

 

Hiccuping sobs took the place of words and Thea pressed her hand to her mouth. Her best friend's distress, the fear of loss that Felicity could see on her face, actually helped her to focus. Thea had never truly lost anyone close to her. She didn't really know anything about the gaping holes that it could leave and Felicity didn't want her to. She didn't want anyone she loved to suffer that, which meant that they had to find him.

 

_She_ had to find him.

 

She tugged Thea towards the bed and she set her computer down on top of the covers. Crossing the room, she stepped into Oliver's walk in closet and pulled out two of his old sweatshirts. She handed one to Thea and tugged the other one on. Even though they were freshly laundered, smelling more of detergent than Oliver, there was still something comforting about it.

 

Settling cross-legged on the bed, she pulled her computer into her lap and while she waited for it to boot up, she squeezed Thea's hand. 

 

"I won't stop looking," she promised. 

 

Thea seemed to sense the resolve behind those words and she held onto it.

 

"What do we do first?" she asked.

 

"First," Felicity said, her fingers starting to fly over the keyboard. "We make sure he actually took the boat. There are surveillance cameras at the dock. And also on the lighthouse at the harbor entrance."

 

It took her barely time at all to access the tapes from the dock cameras and fast forward through them until she spied Oliver roaring up on his motorcycle.

 

“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.

 

Part of her had still been hoping against hope that this was all a colossal mistake. But as she watched the footage, Thea peering over her shoulder so that she could see too, Oliver abandoned his bike, climbed onto the boat and minutes later was pulling away from the dock, headed into the darkness.

 

Closing out the video, Felicity searched for the ‘Folly’s GPS signal but it wasn’t transmitting. She set up a few scans to monitor the different radio frequencies in case anything came up – from Oliver or from other boats that might have spotted him – and then she started hacking satellites. It took hours, and the emotional overload took its toll on Thea who dozed off after the first 90 or so minutes.

 

She was just about to start digging her way into the DOD network when a background search popped back up and Felicity’s widened.

 

“Oh my god,” Felicity said.

 

Thea bolted upright, rubbing her eyes.

 

“What?” she said squinting in Felicity’s direction.

 

“I think I found Queen’s Folly,” Felicity said. “Or at least…a piece of it.”

 

The two girls exchanged looks and then both bolted for the stairs, Felicity carrying her laptop.

 

“We have our best teams out there…”

 

“She went down in the storm but I think I found her,” Felicity interrupted the uniformed man.

 

All eyes turned to look at her and under any other circumstances she might have been unnerved but there was no time for that. She placed her laptop on the dining table.

 

“I’m not sure what happened but it looks like Queen’s Folly sank,” Felicity managed to say. “You can see the debris…”

 

“How did you…?” Moira began shakily.

 

“Felicity’s a computer expert,” Robert Queen interjected to Felicity’s surprise. “Although how she got to this…”

 

He gestured to the images on the computer screen.

 

“Probably not an explanation you should give without a lawyer present,” Robert concluded.

 

Felicity didn’t say anything and Robert, apparently didn’t expect her to. He focused his attention on the man in uniform.

 

“Captain Norman,” Robert said. “Based on these coordinates, how soon can you have your teams searching the area?”

 

The captain glanced at Felicity’s computer screen and then at his own maps and monitors.

 

“15 minutes tops,” the captain confirmed. “If your boy is still out there, we’ll find him.”

 

Felicity stumbled backwards, the strength and adrenaline suddenly leaving her limbs and the uncertainty hitting her full force. Finding the Queen’s Folly was one thing but the boat had _sunk_ and Oliver had been on it. He could easy have been dragged down and it didn’t matter how strong of a swimmer he was, not in a storm.

 

Thoughts and images swirled through Felicity’s mind and she was so overwhelmed that she simply succumbed. She felt herself falling and everything went black. She had no idea how long she was out for but when she came to, she was lying in Thea’s bedroom. Squinting, she look around for her glasses and she’d just picked them off the bedside table and slipped them on when Thea came bursting into the room.

 

“They found him!” she shouted.

 

“They found him,” Felicity repeated in a whisper, scared to ask the obvious question, her heart lurching into overdrive.

 

“He’s alive,” Thea rushed to add. “They said he was unconscious but alive. They’re taking him by helicopter straight to Starling General. We’re getting ready to drive there.”

 

Thea had barely finished the sentence before Felicity was scrambling off the bed and pushing her feet into her ballet flats.

 

“I’m coming too,” she insisted.

 

“I wouldn’t leave without you,” Thea said. “And Felicity?”

 

“Yeah?” Felicity said.

 

“Thank you,” Thea said, wrapping her friend in the tightest possible hug. “We might not have found him without you.”

 

Felicity pressed her lips together and hugged her friend back just as tightly. Five minutes later, they were piled into the SUV’s headed towards Starling General. They arrived ten full minutes before the helicopter carrying Oliver and it was more than two hours before the doctors completed all their exams and scans and allowed them all to visit.

 

The doctors explained that he had a few cracked ribs, a sprained wrist and that he’d suffered a blow to the head. They were keeping him sedated for the time being to allow the slight swelling of his brain to reduce but that they didn’t expect any complications when he woke up.

 

He was so still and Felicity could see new bruises forming on his face. She had to bite her lip and clench her fists to hold herself back and let his parents and Thea approach him first. She sat down in the chair across from the bed and wrapped her arms around her knees.

 

He’s alive, she told herself, and he’s going to be okay. That’s all that matters. She kept repeating it in her mind even though she knew it wouldn’t register until she could touch him and feel his heartbeat for herself.

 

After about a half an hour, a woman in a suit stuck her head inside and told Robert and Moira that the media were waiting for a statement.

 

“Are you girls going to be okay alone?” Moira asked softly.

 

“Yeah, Mom, we’re good,” Thea said.

 

Moira nodded and let her husband guide her out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, Felicity was on her feet. She approached Oliver’s bedside, sat down in the chair Moira had vacated, and reached out to take his hand in hers. It was still too cold and clammy to be comforting but Felicity gripped it anyway.

 

“I am so sorry, Oliver,” she whispered.

 

“You said you two fought,” Thea ventured. “About what?”

 

“We were meeting up to cook dinner at the apartment,” Felicity said. “I got off the elevator and there was a woman. She was...”

 

Felicity closed her eyes.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “The point is, I panicked and I ran. He came after me and he swore that it wasn’t what I thought, that the girl was some random ex. He even said that Tommy was probably the one who orchestrated it and I just…I couldn’t process it. I couldn’t just believe him and God, Thea, the look on his face…”

 

She shook her head.

 

“You screwed up,” Thea said.

 

It was blunt but not angry.

 

“Yeah,” Felicity agreed.

 

“He’ll forgive you,” Thea said.

 

“How do you know?” Felicity asked.

 

“Because he can be dumb as a rock but he’s head over heels in love with you,” Thea said. “That’s not the kind of thing you give up on or walk away from.”

 

“I’ve never had to stay,” Felicity said.

 

Thea read between the lines easily and she gave Felicity an encouraging smile.

 

“So stay now,” she said. “Stay for him.”

 

 

Several days passed by before Felicity got the chance to speak to Oliver alone. He'd woken up and like the doctors had predicted, he seemed to have all of his wits about him. They were keeping him for observation and to manage his pain but for all intents and purposes, he was out of the woods.

 

And he wasn't lacking for visitors. Between friends and family and friends of the family, there was almost always someone around. And if Oliver was avoiding meeting her gaze and if he never spoke directly to her, Felicity tried not to let it bother her. He was allowed to be mad but she wasn't going to give up. Staying hurt but leaving would hurt worse.

 

Tommy was at the hospital too. He hadn't worked up the nerve to actually see Oliver and Felicity wasn't speaking to him but he was there.

 

And then at 1:00 pm, four days after they found him, Thea dragged her mother away claiming a desperate need to for a latte and left Oliver and Felicity alone.

 

Silence reigned for several minutes before Felicity finally spoke.

 

"Are you ever going to look at me?" she asked quietly.

 

"Felicity, don't," Oliver warned her tiredly.

 

Felicity ignored him.

 

"I know I owe you an apology," she continued. "And I get that you might not want to accept it right away. But if you just let me explain..."

 

Oliver blew out a breath and shifted slowly in the hospital bed so that he could look at her, something he'd been trying very hard not to do over the last few days. She looked as if she'd lost weight and there was a permanent frown etched between her brows.

 

It didn't escape him that she'd barely left the hospital since he'd been brought in. She was there when he woke up, when he fell asleep. He'd even woken up in the middle of the night once to find her head resting on the bed next to his shoulder, her tiny hand wrapped tightly around his. He hadn't had the heart to wake her even though seeing her close and knowing how far away they were from each other emotionally, just made his heart hurt.

 

"I don't think there's anything to explain, Felicity," he said. "Things were pretty clear that night and...look. I love you, okay? I really do. But I can't be with you knowing that no matter what you say, part of you is waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for me to say or do something to fuck it up and give you a reason to leave. That's not...I can't do that."

 

He saw tremors start to run through her and she wrapped her arms around herself to ward them off. Her response, when it came, was the last thing Oliver expected.

 

"Everyone thinks that I'm so put together, that I have all the answers," Felicity said. "Because you know, genius IQ and everything. Because I didn't complain or lash out when I got shipped away to boarding school. Because I don't let my father intimidate me."

 

She shook her head.

 

"I try to be that girl," she said. "The one with the super confidence, who knows she's amazing and never doubts it. God, every woman wants to be that girl but it's not easy and I'm not always her, Oliver. Some days, I'm the petrified seven year old who didn't even get a hug good bye from her emotionally ravaged father before he put her on a transatlantic flight. Some days I'm the nine year old who cried herself to sleep at least once a week because she missed home. And some days I'm the awkward teenager that compared herself to every woman she ever saw you with and figured there had to be something missing because it was always them and never me."

 

She wiped the tears from her eyes with an impatient flick of her hand.

 

"But it is me," she said "You love _me_. And I am sorry that I couldn't take you at your word that night. I got scared, Oliver. I panicked because I'm not perfect. I'm human. I'm just as capable of screwing things up as you are and  the only way this works...it's not just about trust. It's about forgiveness too."

 

She unfolded herself from the chair and walked over to his bedside. Hesitantly, she reached out to lightly touch his cheek. He didn't lean into the touch but he didn't pull away either.

 

"I love you too, okay?" she said. "So you have to forgive me. Not right now, not tomorrow, not even next week or the week after but at some point, you have to. And however long it takes I'll wait."

 

She leaned down to brush her lips over his forehead and Oliver closed his eyes to brace himself against the impact of her touch, her scent, _her_.

 

Straightening up, she gave him a shaky smile, quietly collected her things and left. She spotted her brother the hallway, sitting slumped in a hard plastic chair, looking as if he hadn't slept in days.

 

"How much longer are you planning to do this?" Felicity asked him.

 

Tommy looked up in surprise.

 

"I'm not sure why you seem to have taken it so personally that Oliver and I fell in love," Felicity said. "It has so little to do with you when you think about it. But if you really let that come between the friendship the two of you have had basically since you were born, then you're an idiot. And idiocy doesn't run in our family so...just cut it out, okay? Fix it because if things had been different four days ago, you might never have gotten the chance to."

 

Tommy blinked as his sister walked away from him, the weight of her words adding to the weight of the guilt and fear and regret that he'd been carrying around for longer than he cared to consider.

 

He'd regretted calling Helena almost the minute he'd done it. Scanning Felicity's phone, reading the texts between her and Oliver making plans and deliberately sabotaging it all. That didn't make him a good, protective older brother. It made him a vindictive jackass.

 

His concerns about the two of them in a relationship were legitimate enough; he knew Oliver better than anyone and he'd never seen the man be remotely serious about any woman. But he shouldn't have assumed that just because it had never happened before meant that Oliver was incapable of it. And he certainly shouldn't have tried to force the issue.

 

Rubbing his hands over his face, Tommy sighed. He had a lot of amends to make and the overwhelming bleakness he'd found himself facing when Felicity told him Oliver was missing, when he imagined what life would actually be like without Oliver around, was reason enough to get started.

 

Standing up, he walked to the door of Oliver's hospital room and knocked gently before going inside. He saw the surprise on Oliver's face before it was replaced with a much harder expression.

 

"You have every reason to hate me," Tommy began, hands held up in the air. "I'm pretty sure I hate me too."

 

"What are you doing here, Tommy?" Oliver asked.

 

"Making the first of probably a million apologies for what a god awful friend and brother I've been lately," Tommy said.

 

Oliver's stared at him stonily.

 

"I fucked up," Tommy said. "I reacted badly and the fact that I was shocked and feeling betrayed is no excuse. I know that but dude, she's my sister and I know you or at least, I know the kind of shit we've done together so I don't think you can completely blame me for not thinking that you and Felicity were a perfect match. Any more than you would have if the roles were reversed and this conversation was about me and Thea."

 

"You're not...wrong," Oliver allowed.

 

"Plus," Tommy said, walking further into the room. "And again, not making excuses for my epic mistakes here but you lied to me. You both lied to me and I practically walked in on you."

 

Oliver arched an eyebrow in inquiry.

 

"Yeah," Tommy said wryly. "Next time you want to have shower sex in my house, don't."

 

He sobered again.

 

"The thing with Helena though...there isn't an excuse or explanation of any kind for that. I just...wasn't thinking about anyone but myself and how the whole thing made me feel. I'll come clean with Felicity as soon as I get home."

 

"Don't bother," Oliver said. "It doesn't matter. And in an extremely twisted, nearly got me killed, kind of way, you might have done us a favor. There were things that needed saying, that Felicity needed to tell me that might not have come up if not for this so..."

 

"I'm going to assume that's not you actually forgiving me," Tommy said.

 

"You assume correctly," Oliver said.

 

Tommy nodded.

 

"So here's the thing, Ollie," he said. "I know I said some things, about us being done but then you went out and almost you know, disappeared from the face of the earth and it occurs to me, that as crappy as the current state of our friendship is, I don't actually want it to be over."

 

Oliver was quiet for a few moments and then he sighed.

 

"If we ended our friendship every time one of us crossed a line, we'd never have recovered from that night junior year," Oliver said.

 

"Jagerbombs and Julie Vance's pink bra," Tommy recalled with a laugh. "God. Yeah."

 

"We'll figure it out," Oliver said.

 

"And you and Felicity?" Tommy said.

 

"Let me worry about that," Oliver said. "You've done enough."

 

Tommy shook his head.

 

"In fifty years when you two are married and have a gaggle of kids and grandkids, you're still going to give me shit about this, aren't you?" he asked.

 

"Fuck yeah," Oliver agreed.

 

 

"I would've thought you'd go home," Felicity said, stepping out onto the pool deck.

 

She's just gotten home after visiting her mother's grave and Nika had informed her with a gentle smile that Mr. Oliver was waiting for her.

 

"You and my mother both," Oliver said, getting to his feet. "I told her I had something important to take care of."

 

"Yeah?" Felicity questioned.

 

"Yeah," Oliver said, walking toward her. "I told her I needed to fix things with my girlfriend. Let her know that she's the best thing that ever happened to me and that I can't imagine ever not being as in love with her as I am right now."

 

Felicity smiled and started to hug him but hesitated.

 

"Your ribs?" she worried.

 

"I think I can handle a hug," Oliver told her.

 

Fiercely but carefully, Felicity wrapped her arms around him and Oliver rested his chin on the top of her head, his arm banded around her back to hold her close.

 

"This mean I'm forgiven?" Felicity murmured into his chest.

 

"It does mean that," Oliver said.

 

He pulled away slightly so he could look down at her.

 

"It also means that I want to be the person you lean on," Oliver said. "On the days that you don't feel like Superwoman, I don't want you to feel like you need to run from me. And I definitely don't want you to feel like I'll ever love you less because of those days."

 

"That sounds pretty good," Felicity said.

 

She wrapped her hand in the fabric of his polo shirt, pulling gently even as she lifted onto her tiptoes in order to kiss him properly in what felt like the first time in forever.

 

Oliver groaned and the hand not immobilized by the cast on his wrist came up to cup the back of her head and deepen the contact.

 

"Ugh," Tommy complained from behind them. "I think I need to start wearing a bell of some kind so you two can not be making out when I'm around."

 

Felicity and Oliver pulled apart and turned to face him. He had his hands over his eyes.

 

"Is it safe?" he asked.

 

"Don't you have someone else you could be cock blocking?" Oliver asked.

 

Tommy shook his head.

 

"You just got out of the hospital," he said. "You're medically cock blocked and also can we not talk about your sex life with my sister. Like, ever?"

 

His smile relaxed into something less teasing and more genuine.

 

"I didn't realize I'd be interrupting the reunion," he said. "I was actually just looking for Liss. I thought you might have gone to visit Mom."

 

"I did," Felicity said. "You must have just missed me."

 

Tommy shot Oliver a look.

 

"Mind if I borrow her for a few minutes?" he asked. "I promise to make myself scarce afterward."

 

Oliver nodded and kissed the top of Felicity's head.

 

"I'll wait upstairs," he told her.

 

He crossed the patio and slipped inside through the glass doors.

 

"I've been avoiding you," Tommy admitted.

 

"I noticed," Felicity said.

 

"I took your advice though," he said. "About Ollie."

 

"I see that," Felicity said.

 

"And I'm going to ignore his about you," Tommy said. "You'll probably hate me for the next two decades or so if I'm lucky but...

 

"If you're going to tell me that you set up that whole thing with Oliver and that Helena person," Felicity said. "Don't bother. I already know."

 

"You do?" Tommy asked.

 

"Oliver wouldn't make something like that up for no reason," Felicity said. "I should have known that from the beginning."

 

"I'm sorry is woefully inadequate, I know that," Tommy began.

 

"I forgive you," Felicity said.

 

"But I do...sorry, you what?" Tommy said.

 

"I said I forgive you," Felicity said.

 

"So not that I'm not happy about that but why?" Tommy said. "What I did was..."

 

"Awful and heartless and honestly, straight up cruel," Felicity said. "But you're my brother. And I don't have enough family left to just cut you out. So I forgive you because I'd like to think that you regret what you did and you learned from it."

 

"Yes, to both of those things," Tommy said.

 

"I'm willing to move past it if you are," Felicity said.

 

"I, okay," Tommy said. "Yeah."

 

"Come here you dork," Felicity said, pulling him into a hug.

 

Tommy squeezed her tight before letting go.

 

"For what it's worth at this late stage," Tommy said. "If Ollie makes you happy, I'm glad for that. It's what Mom would have wanted for you."

 

"Thank you for saying that," Felicity said.

 

Tommy smiled.

 

"I'm going to go...somewhere that isn't here," he said wryly. "I'll text before I dare to come home."

 

Felicity rolled her eyes but she felt as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Being at odds with her brother was a rare and all together too disturbing occurrence. She was glad it was over.

 

She was even more glad though, to walk into her bedroom and find Oliver sprawled out on her bed, eyes closed.

 

"Tired?" she asked, closing the door behind her and crawling onto the bed with him.

 

"Not especially," Oliver said, cracking one eye open. "I feel like resting is all I've done lately."

 

"I guess that means you're all full of energy," Felicity said.

 

"I guess it does," Oliver said. "You have something specific in mind about how I should expend it?"

 

"Your doctors would probably kill me if they knew what I had in mind," Felicity said.

 

"They're not here," Oliver said. "And you have my undivided attention."

 

"There is one thing I've been wanting to try," Felicity said, tucking her top lip between her teeth and settling so that her knees were on either side of his. She pushed the hem of his shirt up and placed her hands on his bare stomach. Her fingers trailed lightly over the bruises that were still healing and she let out a choked breath.

 

"Oliver, you could have died," she whispered.

 

"But I didn't," Oliver said firmly. "Besides, it was all a ploy really. I have a kink about you kissing things better."

 

"You do not," Felicity accused,

 

Oliver winked at her.

 

"How do you know?" he teased. "We haven't even begun to explore all my kinks and fetishes. To say nothing of yours."

 

"What makes you think I have kinks?" Felicity asked primly.

 

"That noise you make when I bite you is a pretty dead give away," Oliver said.

 

Felicity flushed a little bit but the sparkle was back in her eye. With a little maneuvering she freed him from his shirt and placed gentle kisses across his chest and stomach. The lower she went, the faster Oliver's blood rushed south.

 

By the time she had his pants open and her hand wrapped around the base of his cock, he was fully erect and actually aching to feel her mouth on him for the first time.

 

"Christ,"Oliver gasped when her lips closed around him. The shock of sensation was so searing that it was like live current running through his entire body. She took as much of him as she could fit in her mouth for a few seconds and then pulled back, her breathing a little ragged. Undaunted, she started stroking him from base to tip, her hands moving in counter movements to her tongue, licking and swirling its way around him.

 

Her movements weren't practiced but so far as Oliver was concerned that just added to the erotic charge of the moment. And when she tried to take him all the way in, when he felt himself hitting the back of her throat, he lost it. He barely had time to warn her before his orgasm hit.

 

If he wasn't so blissed out, Oliver might have been a little embarrassed at how quickly she'd managed to coax that climax from him. As it was, when he blinked his eyes open she was sitting back on her heels looking all together pleased with herself.

 

"Looks like we found another one of your kinks," Oliver said lazily. "You seem to like having me at your mercy."

 

"Yeah," Felicity agreed, snuggling up to him. "Almost as much as I like being at yours."


End file.
